Damascus approves US-Russian agreement

“The United States is going the extra mile here because we believe Russian Federation and my colleague have the capability to press [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime to stop this conflict and come to the table and make peace”, he said.

Save the Children’s Syria director Sonia Khush said: “The announcement of a nationwide cessation of hostilities from Monday is very welcome, and couldn’t come soon enough for Syria’s children”. The monitor confirmed reports by residents and activists in rebel-held eastern Aleppo who said Syrian army helicopters dropped barrel bombs on residential civilian areas in several districts with scores injured and at least four civilians killed.

If a cessation of hostilities holds for one week, the USA and Russian Federation – which back opposing sides in the war – could start joint operations against jihadist groups.

Leading HNC member Bassma Kodmani told AFP that her group “cautiously welcomed” the deal but was sceptical that Damascus would comply.

The deal will be implemented at sundown on Monday, Lavrov said.

Pentagon and USA intelligence officials have spoken out against the idea of closer military cooperation with Russian Federation, in particular the sharing of locations of opposition groups that have fought to topple Assad.

Kerry said the “bedrock” of the new deal was an agreement that the Syrian government would not fly combat missions in an agreed area on the pretext of hunting fighters from the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria which has recently changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. -Russian agreement, saying it creates a “real window of opportunity which all relevant actors in the region and beyond should seize to put the crisis in Syria on a different path and reduce the violence and suffering of the Syrian people”. It says the agreement is “critical” for ending the fighting throughout Syria, and specifically Aleppo.

The two powers back opposing sides in the conflict, with Moscow supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and Washington backing a coalition of rebels it regards as moderate.

Mr Lavrov said the joint implementation centre would allow Russian and United States forces to “separate the terrorists from the moderate opposition”. Basma Kodmani, of the High Negotiations Committee, told The Associated Press that Russian Federation should pressure Assad to abide by the deal, adding enforcement mechanisms will be needed including the “cessation of hostilities and the grounding (of) regime air forces”.

But Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has cautioned that Moscow can not “100 percent guarantee” that all parties will obey the new ceasefire.

“The armed opposition in Syria now faces what is perhaps its biggest and most momentous decision since they chose to take up arms against the Assad regime in 2011”, said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think-tank.

The breakthrough is seen as having the potential to provide a turning point for Syria, where the conflict has killed up to 500,000 people.

The United Nations’ Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura briefly joined Kerry and Lavrov on the podium in Geneva to welcome the U.S.

More than 400,000 people have died and millions more displaced from Syria.