A Syrian opposition politician said Wednesday he did not have great confidence that the truce would last longer than a previous one that temporarily curbed the fighting in February.
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Lavrov’s comments came in response to recent remarks by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who said on Monday: “We need to see Russian Federation make good on the commitments they’ve made in the context of this arrangement to prevail upon the Assad regime to observe the cessation of hostilities”.
“By early morning, every report we have been seeing indicates a significant drop in violence”, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told a news briefing at the UN Office at Geneva.
The aid is aimed at convincing the worldwide community that “the U.N.is doing their best to help civilians”, Abdulkafi Alhamdo, a teacher and resident of eastern Aleppo, said of the terms of the cease-fire. Erdogan said Monday the country will send food, clothing and children’s toys to Aleppo, Syria after a U.S. -Russia brokered ceasefire takes effect. The UN said its own trucks had not yet entered Syria and that it was still awaiting confirmation that the ceasefire was holding.
Moscow “calls for the extension of the cessation of hostilities on all Syrian territory for 48 hours”, senior Russian military officer Viktor Poznikhir said, quoted by news agencies. “It would be premature to say that we’re going to jump right into it”, commander of U.S. Air Operations in the Middle East Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian told reporters Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Mr Kerry said that the ceasefire could be the last chance to work towards peace in Syria. The U.N. estimates that well over half a million people are living under siege in Syria, whose five-year conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced more than 11 million.
Pro-government media reports and rebel commanders say that the Syrian army’s elite Tiger Forces unit already has pulled back from the road, and that Russian marines are now manning it.
Turkey launched an incursion into northern Syria in late August, driving IS away from the border and also seeking to counter the advance of USA -backed Kurdish forces, which Ankara views with suspicion.
Russian Federation is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A Turkish official said no further trucks were expected to cross the border on Wednesday until the situation became clearer.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said it had recorded no deaths in the country since the ceasefire took effect.
BEIRUT – A cease-fire brokered by the USA and Russian Federation brought calm across much of Syria on Tuesday as residents of the northern city of Aleppo awaited an expected aid shipment.
The ceasefire deal calls for a halt to the violence between the Syrian regime and rebel forces, but does not cover militant groups considered terrorists, such as ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al Nusra Front.
Last week, more than 70 NGOs said they would refrain from information sharing with the United Nations because they believe the Assad regime has been allowed to manipulate aid and has too much influence over the $4 billion relief effort.
Insurgent groups have expressed misgivings about the cease-fire, which would allow for strikes against a powerful al Qaeda-linked group that fights alongside the rebels.
“The streets were always empty before”, a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Abo Haitham, told Reuters news agency.
Lorries carrying Russian aid, however, have reached government-held areas of Homs province.
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“From my perspective, my job will be to, number one, ensure that as this moves forward, we’re comfortable that the guidance that we get is operationalized into a process that allows us to continue the momentum that we have against ISIL; build on the coalition that we have put together to allow us to continue to pressure Daesh”, Harrigian said.
