US official: Russia risks being mired in Syria 'quagmire'

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior State Department official sought to assure skeptical lawmakers that Russia is at risk of becoming mired in Syria if the civil war rages on, a prospect that gives the United States an upper hand as it pressures Moscow to end attacks in the besieged city of Aleppo.

The committee's Republican chairman, Bob Corker of Tennessee, assailed President Barack Obama and his administration for refusing to take the necessary steps to get humanitarian aid into Syria and to deter Assad's military forces from targeting civilians.

Blinken said "we also are actively considering other options" at Obama's direction for ending the civil war and he would share them with Congress once the deliberations are complete.

Since last week, following the collapse of the latest truce attempt brokered by the U.S. and Moscow, Syrian and Russian aircraft have waged a major air campaign in rebel-held areas of Aleppo.

The war, in its sixth year, has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and given the Islamic State group room to grow into a global terror threat.