A Syrian government source said that sealing the country’s borders and stopping foreign support to armed groups was important to prevent “these organisations from strengthening their capabilities or changing their positions, in order to avoid what may lead to a wrecking of the agreement”.
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“As the civil war over the ruins of Syria grinds on into its fifth year, the fighting seems nowhere near an end”.
With political will, Gatilov said, “we can achieve great results”.
“This is a moment to try to see whether or not we can make this work”, Kerry said, “not to find ways to preordain its failure and start talking about all the downsides of what we might do afterward”.
Putin and Assad, who held a telephone conversation, stressed the importance of a continued “uncompromising” fight against Islamic State, the Nusra Front and other militant groups “which are included in the respective list of the United Nations Security Council”, the Kremlin said.
The council on Tuesday also condemned the impact of “violent extremist ideology and actions” on the stability of Syria, neighboring countries and the region.
Nearly 200 people were killed over the weekend in multiple attacks in Homs and on the outskirts of Damascus.
The shelling comes days before a “temporary cessation of hostilities” engineered by the us and Russian Federation is set to take effect.
Kerry said that without support from Moscow, the ceasefire couldn’t have happened and more than 100 trucks of badly needed humanitarian aid wouldn’t have been delivered this week.
The deliveries to the towns of Moadamiyeh and Kafr Batna, near Damascus, came after aid reached five besieged towns last week, part of a major push to reach civilians facing starvation.
“We are still waiting for approval for an additional 170,000 people”. The cease-fire is to go into effect Saturday.
Hollande’s office said in a separate statement that the four countries would closely monitor implementation of the truce, “particularly the halting of strikes by Russian Federation and the Syrian regime on moderate opposition groups and the civilian population”.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj.-Gen.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., expressed concern the truce will become a “rope-a-dope deal”, a reference to boxing technique in which a fighter exhausts his opponent while expending little energy.
It’s not clear exactly where along Syria’s complicated front lines the fighting would stop and for how long – or where counterterrorism operations could continue. Russian Federation has given out its hotline numbers for enforcing the truce to the United States, he added. IS seized Khanaser and surrounding hills on Tuesday, cutting the government’s main land route to the city.
The victory is key for Syria’s military access to the provincial capital, Aleppo city.
U.S. Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he did not believe Russian Federation was convinced it would suffer any consequences if the plan fails.
Both presidents also agreed on the need to continue the war against the terrorist-designated groups, namely the Islamic State and the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The PYD has denied any involvement in the attack. “Of course, Turkey has the right to defend its territory”.
Turkey views the U.S.-backed PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, as terrorists due to their affiliation with Turkey’s own outlawed Kurdish rebels.
Syria’s opposition indicated on Wednesday it was ready for a two-week truce in Syria, saying it was a chance to test the seriousness of the other side’s commitment to a US-Russian plan for a cessation of hostilities.
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Alloush said the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which he is a member of, would give the final answer.
