Syrian president receives phone call from Russia’s Putin

With the conflict having killed more than 260,000 people and displaced an additional 23 million, progress on a transition is needed in the next two or three months or “it may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria“, Kerry said. NPR’s Alice Fordham says “it is still not clear whether the various sides agree on the specific terms of where fighting should or should not continue, leaving many among the opposition skeptical that the truce will have any effect”. The High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, said a military committee has been formed to follow up on adherence.

Fighting continued meanwhile, particularly around the city of Aleppo.

The opposition fears government forces backed by the Russian air force will continue to attack rebels under the pretext of targeting the Nusra Front.

Assad also has assured Putin of his government’s readiness to respect a ceasefire deal brokered by Moscow and Washington, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

“The only hope that we have is the Russian-US decision on a ceasefire“, he said. He said 25 strikes targeted Douma.

“There are two texts, the American and the Russian, and the task now is to converge them into one”, the source said, calling coordination of the future resolution a tedious process, especially considering the fact the case in hand was Syria.

The HNC, which is meeting in Riyadh, was working on an official memorandum containing observations to be sent to states involved with the agreement, said Alloush, who heads the political office of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group.

The recently declared cessation of hostilities must not affect the war on terror, Syrian Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar said. Some voices from U.S. allies are questioning the viability of this agreement.

President Barack Obama directed his national security team Thursday to press the U.S.-led global campaign to destroy the Islamic State group “on all fronts”.

“The coming days will be critical, and the world will be watching”.

Erdogan says that Turkey supports a “cease-fire that will allow our Syrian brothers to breathe”. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his government is ready for a cease-fire, but not if “terrorists” use it to bolster their positions.

Earlier Wednesday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here that the U.S.-Russian deal is seen as “the important first step” to ending the suffering of the Syrian people.

For his part, Assad has steadfastly maintained, since the start of the civil war in 2011, that his opponents are terrorists and that his army is fighting to save the country from radical Islamism.

Ja’afari, who is the chief Syrian government negotiator at peace talks, said this is essential to halt support by some countries for “terrorist organizations” that are escalating the conflict and undermining a political solution.