Russia, Turkey Hail Syria Cease-Fire Deal, Peace Talks in Kazakhstan

“I support the ceasefire… and I support its continuation”, said 31-year-old Ahmed Astify.

Putin said the truce will be followed by peace talks between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and the opposition.

Regional powers to replace U.S.. This is the third such ceasefire in the last year, with the previous two attempts to pause the country’s almost six-year-long civil war having crumbled within months or days. The latest ceasefire, announced on September 10, did not hold for a week.

In addition to the violations, the powerful Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham said it had not signed the ceasefire deal despite Russian claims to the contrary, raising further doubts about its long-term viability.

The ceasefire, backed by Assad ally Moscow and opposition-supporting Ankara, has appeared to have mostly held elsewhere.

A ceasefire was holding across most of Syria on Friday but clashes near Damascus underlined the fragility of the deal brokered by Turkey and key regime ally Russian Federation.

The ceasefire, due to start last night from midnight local time (10pm GMT), followed talks between Turkey and Russian Federation and could potentially lead to a lasting political agreement.

Also, Moscow granted the regime a strong position in the negotiations, that’s why it feels that it is its right to demand certain concessions that Russian Federation could use – to avoid – going into another cold war with the U.S.

“Everybody needs this lull”, Isaev says.

Turkey has also been blaming the USA for not backing their military operations in Al-Bab Syria with sufficient air strikes, as Turkey suffered major blows during its fight with ISIL in the area – 14 Turkish soldiers were recently killed by ISIL suicide attacks. The second document is a package of measures to monitor the ceasefire, while the third one is the statement of readiness to start peace talks on the Syrian settlement, the president noted.

Putin was cautious in his appraisal of the agreements reached. “There was an understanding on which the agreement was made”, he said. The recapture of the city means Assad now controls the overwhelming majority of Syria’s population centers.

“There is no confidence in the long-term nature of the agreements”, Zvyagelskaya remarks.

Putin did not specify which rebel groups would participate in the truce, but Russia’s Defense Ministry said they would represent 62,000 opposition fighters from across Syria.

The foreign minister, however, emphasised that all fighters from overseas in Syria need to leave the war-torn country immediately. The situation may be more complex elsewhere in the country. ISIS, for instance, was excluded from the ceasefire, and in a surprise addition, the Kurdish YPG were also announced to have been excluded. It said the government and the opposition had agreed to halt attacks, including aerial attacks, and not to expand territories under their control in a way that would be detrimental to each other.

Syrian rebel groups were due to hold talks with Turkish officials in Ankara on Thursday. “The trilateral format involving Russia, Turkey and Iran is a good start, but it will not be enough to bring peace to all of Syria. Hezbollah needs to return to Lebanon”.