Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said the US cannot control the rebel groups it is arming and will be unable to get them to declare a ceasefire that would be central to any successful peace talks, Belfast Telegraph said.

Speaking in Damascus he said that the Americans “provide arms and money but they have absolutely no control. Nobody will listen. The U.S. has been trying to unify this opposition for two years and you can see the results: more disintegration.”

Mekdad says events have been moving in the Syrian government’s favour throughout the first half of the year. Its forces are on the offensive, having won a crucial battle at Qusayr outside Homs near the Lebanese border, and he stresses that the opposition should take heed. “It will send a clear message to armed groups, saying: ‘The Syrian army is coming for you,’” he says.