This also suggests that perhaps Moscow and Washington can work to end a war that Vladimir Putin refueled when he sent warplanes to join the fight on the side of Assad two years ago.
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Erdogan said he told the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and the US that training and equipping troops on the ground to battle back Islamic State group forces is “not enough” and that a no-fly zone should be the next step.
The Observatory said the most intense fighting since the ceasefire began took place on Tuesday night in the village of Maan in Hama province. In a gesture loaded with symbolism, state television showed him visiting Daraya, a Damascus suburb long held by rebels but recaptured last month after fighters surrendered in the face of a crushing siege. Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the fighting could be a serious threat to the ceasefire if it did not stop.
Also not included in the truce is the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, the Fatah al-Sham Front which was formerly known as the Nusra Front.
Outside the scope of the truce, Turkey said air strikes by a US-led coalition had killed three fighters from ISIS.
In exchange for these sweeping concessions, which essentially abandon Obama’s onetime goal of freeing Syria from Assad and make the United States a junior partner of Russian Federation in the Middle East’s most important ongoing conflict, Kerry promises that humanitarian lifelines will be opened into the besieged city of Aleppo and other areas subjected to surrender-or-starve tactics.
In Geneva, de Mistura said there had been allegations of sporadic and geographically isolated incidents. However, he told reporters that there had been a “significant drop in violence” over the past 24 hours.
“Sources on the ground, which do matter, including inside Aleppo city, said the situation has dramatically improved with no air strikes”.
“Syrian government troops have stopped all fire everywhere, except for areas where Islamic State and al-Nusra Front terrorists still operate”, Gen. Viktor Poznikhir said in comments carried by Russian state news agency TASS. “And we hope to get that done today”, he said.
At the same time, the Syrian government has accused rebel groups of breaking the truce by firing mortar shells in the countryside near Homs, according to Syrian state media.
Reports say the ceasefire is largely holding in Aleppo, a key battleground between army forces and different militant groups, but residents say they are still waiting for relief aid.
But the reports of violence were far less intense than normal.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry has said aid can only be delivered to Aleppo if it is coordinated through the government and United Nations – especially aid coming from Turkey.
The United Nations needs to make sure its staff and partners “are not in mortal danger” before starting aid convoys, said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN coordination agency in Geneva, the Associated Press reported. News stories displayed here appear in our category for worldwide and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
US officials said the cooperation won’t begin immediately after the seven days.
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“People are going about their business, and children are even playing in the street”, Mohamed Omar, a civil defence volunteer in the rebel-held area of Aleppo, a city that has been devastated by the five-year conflict.
