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Assad reassures Putin over cease-fire

The parties to the conflict – the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition groups – have already given their preliminary consent to ceasefire.

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“The U.S. and its allies and regional tools hold all responsibility for the eruption and continuation of the crisis in Syria through supporting terrorism”, the ministry added.

The state news agency Tass quoted him as saying that the “decisive fight against them will certainly continue”.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has assured Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of his government’s readiness to respect a ceasefire deal brokered by Moscow and Washington, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. “The High Negotiations Committee believes a provisional truce for two weeks would provide a chance to determine the commitment of the other side” to the ceasefire, the opposition bloc said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Syrian government stresses the right of its armed forces to retaliate against any violation carried out by these groups”, the ministry said. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that around 400,000 people had died and 12 million people been displaced since the war started.

Lebanese Hezbollah and Shi’ite militias are fighting on the Syrian government side.

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “Putin explained in detail the essence of the Syrian settlement proposals put forward in the joint statement of Russian Federation and the United States”, the Kremlin report stated.

Heavy air strikes were reported to have hit rebel-held areas to the east of Damascus as fighting continued across much of western Syria on Friday, hours before a U.S.-Russian plan aimed at halting the fighting is due to take effect. The Kremlin did not comment on the latest developments but denied allegations that the Russian air force bombed civilian positions east of Damascus the previous day.

The Syrian presidency made no mention of any UN Security Council list.

Peskov says this wasn’t “the first time this observation group has published unconfirmed information that isn’t backed up by facts”. The agreement excludes Islamic State, Nusra Front, and other “terrorist” groups designated by the United Nations.

The HNC criticized the Russian-American plan for ignoring opposition factions’ need to defend themselves against “terrorist” groups, without specifying which groups those were.

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Turkey’s deputy prime minister says his country supports the cease-fire agreement for Syria but suggests that its military could continue firing on Syrian Kurdish groups in Syria if their militia “attack” Turkey.

Syria truce: Western intervention eats itself