Syria agrees to cessation of hostilities

It also leaves questions open on how to respond to breaches of the ceasefire.

Further complicating the matter is Russia’s history of denouncing all Syrian militias that oppose Assad as “terrorists” – and terrorist groups are excluded from the deal.

The High Negotiations Committee, a bloc of armed groups collectively representing the main Syrian opposition, said in a statement Wednesday that it will support a two-week truce with the Syrian regime.

The Syrian government and the opposition, including almost 100 rebel groups, have said they will abide by the cease-fire despite serious skepticism about chances for success.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the Russia-US agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria on Friday.

That includes areas where hundreds of thousands of people find themselves besieged, a lot of them by Syrian government forces or the Islamic State group.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria was expected Friday to announce a date for the resumption of peace talks, as a United States-Russia negotiated “cessation of hostilities” was set to take effect at midnight local time. “The U.S. has informed us and has received our opinion”.

Whether or not the deal succeeds in ending Syria’s civil war and launching a transition to peace would become clear in a couple of months, Kerry said, adding that the White House had a backup plan in case the arrangement with Russian Federation did not work.

“We do anticipate we’re going to encounter some speed bumps along the way”, Earnest said.

The Syrian government announced “its acceptance of a halt to combat operations on the basis of continuing military efforts to combat terrorism against Daesh, the Nusra Front, and the other terrorist organizations linked to it and to the al Qaeda organization, according to the Russian-American announcement”.

US President Barack Obama warned Russian Federation and Syria that the “world will be watching” when the ceasefire goes into force.

SANA says most of the casualties were pensioners as the shells slammed near the post building were they come to pick up their pension.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assured Russian Federation s Vladimir Putin of his readiness to respect a ceasefire agreement as the Kremlin strongman on Wednesday launched a diplomatic offensive to get the deal off the ground.

Obama said he was certain those groups would continue to fight, but stressed the US-led coalition was winning the war against IS, citing territorial gains.