Russia grounds its warplanes in Syria

On Friday, Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the cessation of hostilities agreement and said Damascus “is ready to actively participate in any honest effort that aims at reaching this political settlement”.

Sergey Lavrov voiced hope Thursday that the White House will respect the deal envisaging the cease-fire to take effect at midnight Friday local time.

Bayoush said it was normal for violations to take place in any truce but the other side should halt them if it was serious about the agreement. The cease-fire excludes the Islamic State group and al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front.

US President Barack Obama said he is doing everything to ensure the ceasefire between rebels and Syrian government forces goes ahead. More than 270,000 people have died from the 5-year civil war, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Russian Federation and Iran support him.

In the rebel-held suburb of Daraya, opposition activists said the army escalated its attacks, dropping dozens of barrel bombs from helicopters on the devastated town located a few kilometers southwest of the Syrian capital, sending plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

Davutoglu says that “where Turkey’s security is concerned, we would not seek anyone’s permission, we would do whatever is necessary” to defend the country.

A Syrian military source also signaled that Damascus would not cease fighting in Daraya. The village is controlled by several groups including Nusra Front.

Surgeons in Cleveland say they have performed the nation’s first uterus transplant, a new frontier that aims to give women who lack wombs a chance at pregnancy.

The Observatory said intense fighting is ongoing near the northern town of Khanaser between pro-government forces and IS.

“The regime wants to try to retake all of northern Latakia before February 26”, said Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the First Coastal Division rebel group, speaking to Reuters from the area.

“There is calm. Yesterday at this time there were fierce battles”. It is one of several areas where the government has made major gains this year.

It also said there was calm in the north of Latakia province and in the central provinces of Homs and Hama.

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Moscow would continue targeting “terrorist groups”. The US and Russian plan does not apply to ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra front.

However, after more than five years of failure to negotiate any end to fighting, and with Russia’s intervention having had a decisive impact on the ground, it was not clear what sort of fallback plan Washington might consider if the truce fails.

“I don’t think we can move towards conflict management in the area as complicated as Syria and a conjunction neighborhood such as Iraq, Jordan without global cooperation”. “It’s totally in Russia’s hands now”.

United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura said peace talks would resume on March 7 if the ceasefire agreement holds and more aid is delivered – a key sticking point in negotiations for a truce. The last talks were called off this month before they got under way, with rebels saying they could not talk while government troops advanced and Russian Federation bombed.

Talal Sillo, a spokesman for the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces, said Saturday that the IS fighters have attacked the town of Tal Abyad.

The UN Security Council Resolution 2254, passed in December, reaffirms the goals of previous agreements to end the bombardment of civilians in Syria, bring the entire spectrum of political groups in the crisis-torn country to the negotiating table and promote a lasting political resolution of the crisis.