Auto bomb attack kills two people in Syria’s Hama province

“Very intense contacts are underway”, Putin s spokesman Peskov told reporters. “The only thing that is required is for people to take their fingers off the trigger”.

The U.S. president said he was not “under any illusions” about possible pitfalls, but said the ceasefire could be a “potential step in bringing about an end to the chaos”. Putin is also said to have spoken with the leaders of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

But it remains to be seen whether the “cessation” will have a tangible impact on the fighting that has raged in Syria for 5 years now.

United Nations special envoy Staffan De Mistura said reports indicated “suddenly both Daraa and Damascus had calmed down”.

The United States and its allies in Europe and the region who are supporting various opposition groups will be responsible for reining in those groups’ combatants, presumably through diplomatic force or threats to withhold aid. Doing so is meant to ensure that U.S., Russian and Syrian forces do not attack groups abiding by the truce. More than a dozen countries have sent armies and militias to fight in Syria.

The UN Security Council gave its unanimous backing to the cessation of hostilities in a resolution drafted by the USA and Russian Federation.

The truce is needed before U.N.-led peace talks can resume in Geneva.

“We also appreciate the efforts of the International Syria Support Group and sincerely wish for the success of the agreement”, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Rudskoi said that Russian Federation has given the US maps showing the location of opposition groups pledging to abide by the cease-fire as well as IS and al-Nusra units.

The ceasefire for Syria is set to take effect at midnight Friday.

“If they continue with these violations we will be forced to retaliate accordingly”, he said by phone from southern Turkey. It added that it has formed a military committee to follow up on the truce. Since last summer militants haven’t launched a single successful operation in Syria or Iraq, where it controls large amounts of territory, he said.

After a meeting with his national security team at the State Department, Obama expressed USA resolve to try to make the deal work but cautioned there were reasons for scepticism.

Warring parties are asked to commit “to proportionate use of force (i.e., no greater than required to address an immediate threat) if and when responding in self-defense”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that around 400,000 people had died and 12 million people been displaced since the war started.

The United States and Russian Federation, as co-chairs of a task force that includes 15 other governments supporting either the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad or the armed opposition fighting against it, are primarily responsible for verifying breaches and containing them from afar.

But HNC chief negotiator Mohamad Alloush said on Wednesday that the council had not yet decided whether to commit to the deal. He did not provide details as to how many aircraft have arrived so far.

Beyond Saturday, Russia has vowed to keep up its bombing campaign against terrorist groups not covered by the deal, including so-called Islamic State and al Nusra Front.

The military has strenuously denied the allegations.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which monitors the conflict said it was carried out by Islamic State.

Peskov says this wasn’t “the first time this observation group has published unconfirmed information that isn’t backed up by facts”. But she said the “vast majority” of the opposition is ready to cooperate with the cease-fire.

IS attacked the Khanaser area Monday, capturing the town only to lose it Thursday.