The agreement, which Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov came to in Geneva early Saturday, will consist, at first, of a seven-day cessation in hostilities on both sides of the conflict, starting Monday, so that humanitarian aid can be brought into war-torn areas like the city of Aleppo.
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Air strikes killed at least 50 people in rebel-held areas of Idlib and Aleppo on Saturday, just hours after Russian Federation and the United States announced a deal meant to put a stop to more than five years of fighting.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people were killed in Aleppo province and another 39 were killed by airstrikes in neighboring Idlib province.
Separate air strikes on rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo city and the surrounding countryside killed at least 20 people, according to local rescue workers, and 10 people were killed by rebel shelling on the government-controlled neighbourhood of Salahuddin.
Instead, Syrian state media said the government offered its approval of the deal, citing private sources.
Syria’s state news agency SANA says the Syrian government accepts the new U.S.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said it was “vital that the regime in Damascus now delivers on its obligations”.
Hours after the deal was announced, Syria’s army attacked rebel-held areas in Aleppo, as it tries to maximize gains before the ceasefire begins.
Kerry told reporters that “bedrock” of the agreement, is Russian Federation s ensuring that Assad’s air force will no longer fly combat missions over opposition and civilian areas.
Delivery of humanitarian supplies into the besieged city of Aleppo will resume and attacks on Syrian civilians by government forces will end.
– “After seven continuous days of adherence to the cessation of hostilities and increased humanitarian access, then U.S. and Russian experts will work together to defeat” Fateh al-Sham and the self-proclaimed Islamic State jihadist group, Mr Kerry said.
The plan will see the Syrian government end combat missions in specified areas held by the opposition, while Russian Federation and the U.S. will establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups, including Islamic State.
If there is a true cessation of hostilities, Kerry said, Russian Federation and the United States will work together to conduct military strikes against the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra group – an unlikely alliance between two geopolitical foes.
“The Syrian government has been informed by us about these arrangements, and it is ready to fulfill them”, he added.
He added that Russian and USA air forces would carry out co-ordinated strikes strikes against the two groups, and that in some areas, that excluded action by the Syrian air force.
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In a letter, he said the initial truce would last 48 hours and could then be renewed, and that it would be “more effective than its predecessor” because it would halt Syrian strikes “on civilians and the opposition”.
