However, Russia on Saturday pledged to continue backing Syrian government forces against “terrorists”, a term the Syrian regime uses to describe all rebel groups.
Advertisement
Assad said Turkey may also take advantage of the ceasefire to send “terrorists and arms” into Syria.
The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist organization by the U.N. Security Council, although the United States and its allies clearly have a a more lenient position on the group than Damascus and Moscow.
On Monday the Syrian President said on state TV that any ceasefire in his war-torn country “doesn’t mean each party will stop using weapons”.
World powers agreed in Munich on February 12 to a cessation of hostilities that would let humanitarian aid be delivered in Syria.
Speaking for Syria’s opposition, the head of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) umbrella group said they would agree to a temporary truce only if regime backers halted fire.
The two spoke a day after a cease-fire was supposed to take effect in Syria, but passed with fighting continuing.
Up to 35,000 Syrians displaced by fighting in Aleppo have fled to the Turkish border, where they are braving cold conditions in the hope of being allowed to enter the country.
Various Syrian opposition groups “expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal to be reached through global mediation”, a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said.
The United States and others involved in trying to end the Syrian civil war say most Russian bombs are directed at rebels fighting the Syrian government, not at Islamic State terrorists.
The spokesman for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said: “Russia is sticking to its consistent policy of rendering assistance and aid to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists and against terrorist organizations”.
Russian Federation also said it was “concerned at the growing tension at the Syrian-Turkish border”, as Turkey continued shelling Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria it blames for a bomb attack in Ankara that killed dozens.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry had a telephone conversation on Saturday to note progress in the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Syria and confirmed that the implementation of the Munich accords for a settlement in Syria required coordination by the two countries’ military.
On the truce issue, a spokesman for Kerry said the USA secretary and Lavrov discussed “developing a draft set of modalities for a cessation of hostilities”. The latest round of talks at the United Nations in Geneva is being jointly chaired by Russian Federation and the United States.
Diplomats said at least six of the 15-council members outright rejected the resolution when it was presented, and only one member – Venezuela – expressed support. It has also threatened ground action, saying it was exercising its right to self-defense and responding to fire from Syrian soil.
Advertisement
The ISIS-stronghold town of Shaddadeh in northeastern Syria was captured by the Syria Democratic Forces, which includes YPG, from ISIS militants but the terrorist group said it is still in control of the town.
