USA calls Syria ceasefire deal a ‘positive development’

Putin on Thursday said Russian Federation and Turkey will act as guarantors for the truce in Syria, which is set to begin at midnight.

As well as having the backing of Russia, Syria’s chief ally, and Turkey, which has been supporting the rebels, the agreement has also been praised by Iran, another of the Syrian regime’s strongest backers.

The senior rebel official also said Russian Federation, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had not presented them with any offers so far while Turkey, which he said was behind the peace initiative, was not imposing any demands on the rebels.

Details of the deal were not immediately available.

Moscow, Assad’s main military and diplomatic backer, has said it wants negotiations between the two sides, particularly now that Assad’s government has won the country’s second largest city of Aleppo.

Syria’s civil war, which began when a peaceful uprising descended into violence in 2011, has, according to the United Nations resulted in more than 400,000 deaths and displaced over 11 million people, half its pre-war population.

Russia’s Mr. Shoigu added that the conditions are in place for direct dialogue to be established between the Syrian government and the opposition groups “that seek to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

Iran-backed militias were not explicitly mentioned in this deal, however the presence of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani’s forces in Syria have had a deleterious impact on previous agreements.

The foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told the Turkish news channel A Haber on Thursday that Turkey would guarantee rebel compliance with the cease-fire agreement, while Russian Federation would guarantee adherence by Mr. Assad’s government. Syrian state media said late on Thursday that these talks would take place “soon”.

Putin said that all the parties involved in the war hostilities were ready to begin peace talks, after Iran, Turkey and Russian expressed readiness to come to a deal to stop the civil war in the nation that has been going on for nearly six years.

Although on opposing sides in the conflict, Turkey and Russian Federation have been working intensively to find a ceasefire after the fall of Aleppo, in a process that conspicuously does not include the United States.

The source said Syrian political negotiations would begin with Turkey and Russia’s guidance in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, if the cease-fire is successful.

But not all groups operating in the country are part of the deal.