International News

GENEVA, (APP/AFP) – The United States and Russia
reached a deal on a new Syrian ceasefire, which, if it holds, could
see the first joint military effort by the two powers against
militants.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said that the truce, reached late on Friday, would
come into force on Monday.
The two powers back opposite sides of the conflict, with
Moscow supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the
US behind a coalition of rebel groups it regards as moderate.
But if Russia is able to pressure Assad to respect the
ceasefire for a week, Moscow and Washington will set up a joint
coordination unit and begin air strikes against agreed
“terrorist” targets.
“We will jointly agree on strikes against terrorists to
be carried out by the Russian and American air forces. We have
agreed on the zones in which these strikes will be carried
out,” said Lavrov.
The much anticipated — if tentative — breakthrough came
at the end of marathon talks between Lavrov and Kerry in Geneva,
as the pair push for an end to the five-year civil war that has
killed 290,000 and displaced half the country’s population.
“Today, the United States and Russia are announcing a
plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering and
resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political
transition in Syria,” Kerry said.
The vexed question of Assad’s fate remains, with
Western powers calling for his removal and Russia backing
him.