Russia seeks truce backing

NEW YORK: Russia is seeking the endorsement of the UN Security Council for an accord it reached with Turkey and Iran to set up safe zones in Syria, the latest attempt at a ceasefire in a six-year-old civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead.

But Western diplomats say they need more details of the plan before letting the Security Council give its backing.

“We need a bit more information about what this agreement means and implies, and if we get that I’m sure we could agree to a good and supportive resolution,” said Olof Skoog, Sweden’s UN ambassador. “There have been agreements and ceasefires in the past, but not implemented and not monitored.”

The latest initiative, signed in Kazakhstan, calls for the establishment of four zones patrolled by foreign forces in Idlib province, Homs province, the East Ghouta suburb of Damascus and southern Syria. The plan also calls for a halt to flights over the “de-escalation zones” and humanitarian access.

Russia has circulated a draft resolution at the UN that calls “on all member states to contribute in good faith to the implementation of the Memorandum on the creation of de-escalation areas in the Syrian Arab Republic”.

The US hasn’t committed to the agreement. US Defence Secretary James Mattis said details such as the specific location of borders of the safe zones were still being worked out.

It’s not decided “who’s going to be ensuring they’re safe, who is signing up for it, who is specifically to be kept out of them. All these details are to be worked out”, Gen Mattis told reporters, according to Pentagon transcripts.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have discussed the de-escalation efforts, according to a Russia foreign ministry statement. Yet the US State Department expressed concern on Friday about the involvement of Iran as “guarantor” because of its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.