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ByAlbertAji The Associated Press DAMASCUS, SYRIA Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes ad- vanced swiftly in central Syria on Wednesday, seiz- ing high ground around Palmyra and positioning themselves to recapture the historic town held by the Is- lamic State group. The troops, supported by pro-government militias, approached to within 3 ki- lometers (1.8 miles) of the town, according to state TV. A Lebanese television station close to Damascus broadcast footage of the troops advancing single-file through a desert as helicop- ter gunships provided cover. "God willing, within a few hours we will enter and secure the town," one officer told the Syrian Ikhbariya TV, as a group of soldiers broke into chants in support of President Bashar Assad. The station was broadcast- ing live from a road report- edly on the outskirts of Pal- myra. The town is home to im- pressive Roman-era ruins and was one of Syria's lead- ing tourist attractions be- fore the 2011 uprising. IS captured Palmyra last May and has destroyed some of the ancient monuments. In Geneva, meanwhile, the EU foreign policy chief held a rare meeting with Syria's U.N. ambassador, who is leading the govern- ment's delegation at U.N.- mediated peace talks. Federica Mogherini said Brussels still insists on a political transition in Da- mascus as part of efforts to wind down the five-year civil war. "Obviously not all our ex- changes were consensual. But I thought it was impor- tant to bring the EU consol- idated position that we ex- pect the political process and transition to start," she told reporters. Since the outbreak of the civil war, European diplo- mats have rarely met with Syrian officials, many of whom are subject to U.S. and EU sanctions. The government forces have been advancing on Palmyra since last week. Re- capturing the town would be a major victory for Assad. Russia began withdrawing most of its forces and air- craft from Syria last week after a months-long bomb- ing campaign that suc- ceeded in turning the tide of the war again in the gov- ernment's favor. Moscow says it will keep its bases in Syria and con- tinue to carry out airstrikes against IS and other ex- tremists. Syrian forces are push- ing in from the west and south of Palmyra and are also closing in on the IS- held town of Qaryatain in central Syria, Homs gover- nor Talal Barazi said. "There is continuous progress by the army from all directions," Barazi told The Associated Press by phone, adding that he ex- pected "positive results" over the next few days. IS destroyed many of Pal- myra's Roman-era relics, including the 2,000-year- old Temple of Bel and the iconic Arch of Triumph. It also killed dozens of cap- tive Syrian soldiers and dis- sidents in public slayings at the town's grand Roman theater and other ruins. IS also demolished Pal- myra's infamous Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian government oppo- nents had been imprisoned and tortured over the years. The advance on IS comes as a Russian and U.S. bro- kered cease-fire that took effect late last month has largely quieted other fronts in the country's complex civil war. IS and other ex- tremist groups, includ- ing the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, are excluded from the truce, which is in- tended to support the peace talks underway in Geneva. On Wednesday, Syria's U.N. ambassador and head of the government team, Bashar Ja'afari, said he was handed a proposal by U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura. Ja'afari told reporters in Geneva that the government side would take the pro- posal back to Damascus and study it, and would respond during the next round of negotiations, tentatively scheduled for April. The del- egation will meet with De Mistura again Thursday, the last scheduled day of talks before the pause. The negotiations have been held up over the ques- tion of Assad's role in any political transition. The opposition has said Assad must step down as a pre- condition to any transition, while the government has refused to discuss his de- parture. The U.N. envoy said Tues- day that the two parties had not yet discussed Assad's fu- ture. Also on Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that more than 70,000 people had received the first aid de- livery in months in the cen- tral city of al-Houla. It said a joint convoy of the ICRC, the Syrian Arab RedCrescentandtheUnited Nations on Tuesday reached several villages in the region of al-Houla, north of Homs, to deliver food, medicine and water equipment. The people of the city "have been facing severe hardship for a long time," said the ICRC's head of of- fice in Homs, Majda Flihi, who led the aid delivery team. "They are farmers but they cannot farm any- more. They have livestock but it cannot be fed prop- erly as peoples' fields have now become front lines." Syrian authorities re- moved surgical items from the convoy, a U.N. spokes- man said Tuesday, aggra- vating efforts to deliver life- saving medical assistance to the besieged areas. Al-Houla has been un- der siege since 2012 and has been the scene of heavy fighting for months. The recent lull has allowed hu- manitarian organizations to access the area. RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKES Syrian army reaches outskirts of IS-held town of Palmyra SALVATOREDINOLFI—KEYSTONE UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura, le , next to European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, speaks to the media during a press conference a bilateral meeting about the Syrian Crisis, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday. The Associated Press HANOI, VIETNAM A court in Hanoi sentenced a prom- inent Vietnamese blogger to five years in prison for post- ing anti-state writings, in a one-day trial Wednesday that highlighted the Com- munist country's tough ap- proach to dissent. Nguyen Huu Vinh, a for- mer police officer and son of a late government minis- ter, was convicted of abus- ing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state. Vinh's assistant, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, was given three years in prison on the same charge. The two have been in prison since their arrests in May 2014. Vinh, better known as Anh Ba Sam, quit the po- lice force and set up a pri- vate investigation firm. He then launched the blog Dan Quyen, or Citizens' Rights, in 2013, and Chep Su Viet, or Writing Vietnamese His- tory, in early 2014. The blogs provided links to news on political, social, economic and cultural issues from state media as well as from activists. Prosecutors said the two blogs posted 2,397 articles and generated more than 3.7 million hits, and that 24 of the articles had "un- truthful and groundless contents" which tarnished the country's image. The two maintained their innocence at the trial. Thuy told the court that she did not know who au- thored the writings or who posted them on the two blogs and that she did not commit any crime. Their lawyers said there was no evidence against them. Presiding Judge Nguyen Van Pho said the articles posted by the defendants "distort the lines and poli- cies of the party and law of the state, vilify individuals." He said the writings "pres- ent a one-sided and pessi- mistic view, causing anxi- ety and worry, and affecting the people's confidence" in the party and government, and "go against the inter- ests of the nation." Scores of Vinh's support- ers gathered outside the court chanting "innocent." Foreign media and diplo- mats were allowed to follow the proceedings via closed circuit TV in a separate room.International human rights groups and West- ern governments includ- ing the United States have criticized Vietnam for jail- ing dissidents. Hanoi denies that, saying it only detains those who break the law. U.S. officials say Viet- nam has made some prog- ress in its human rights re- cord with fewer arrests, but that more needs to be done if it wants to expand bilat- eral ties. Amnesty Interna- tional and Human Rights Watch had called for the release of both defendants. 5 YEARS IN PRISON Vi et na m se nt en ce s pr om in en t bl og ge r fo r an ti -s ta te p os ts Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms.0%and1.9%APRfinancing are not applicable on these new selected models. All rebates in lieu of special APRs offered by Chrysler. 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