Putin takes another shot at Syria truce
moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire between Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government starting at midnight on Thursday.
The parties were also prepared to start peace talks, Putin said, after Russia, Iran and Turkey expressed readiness to broker a deal to settle the nearly six-year-old Syrian war.
The Syrian army announced a nationwide halt to fighting but said Daesh and ex-Nusra Front militants and all groups linked to them would be excluded from the deal. It did not say which unnamed groups would be excluded.
Several rebel officials said they had agreed to the ceasefire.
It was the third nationwide ceasefire agreed in Syria this year. The previous two, negotiated by Washington and Moscow, collapsed within weeks as warring sides accused each other of violations. The current deal does not involve the United States or United Nations.
One rebel commander expressed optimism that this deal would hold: “This time, I have confidence in its seriousness. There is new international input,” he said, without elaborating.
Talks on the latest truce picked up momentum after Russia, Iran and Turkey last week said they were ready to back a peace deal and adopted a declaration setting out principles that any agreement should adhere to. —
Daesh and Al Nusra are not part of the deal
moscow — Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a nationwide ceasefire deal to come into effect across Syria from midnight and that the warring parties had agreed to sit down for peace talks.
The deal brokered by Russia and Turkey could represent a major breakthrough in nearly six years of war in Syria and comes a week after rebel resistance was crushed in the second city of Aleppo.
Although on opposing sides in the conflict, Turkey and Russia have been working intensively to find a ceasefire after the fall of Aleppo, in a process that conspicuously does not include the United States.
Putin said in televised comments that Damascus and the “main forces of the armed opposition” had inked the truce agreement and a document expressing a readiness to start peace talks.
“Several hours ago, the event occurred that we have not only been waiting for but been working so much to hasten,” Putin said in a meeting with his defence and foreign ministers.
After the Kremlin announcement, Syria’s army said it would halt all military operations from midnight, and the opposition National Coalition also said it backed the truce.
Putin also said he would reduce Moscow’s military contingent in Syria, which has been flying a bombing campaign in support of President Bashar Al Assad since last year.
The Kremlin strongman, however, said that Russia would continue to fight terrorism in the wartorn country and maintain its support for the government in Damascus.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the seven opposition groups, including the powerful Ahrar Al Sham, that have signed up to the agreements after months of talks comprise some 62,000 fighters and control a large portion of territory in central and northern Syria.
He warned that any groups that did not abide by the ceasefire would be considered terrorists alongside the Daesh group and the former Al Qaeda affiliate previously known as Al Nusra Front, now rebranded the Fateh Al Sham Front.
Putin’s announcement of the deal came hours after Turkey’s foreign minister said the potential truce could start by New Year.
The nationwide ceasefire follows the deal brokered by Turkey and Russia for Aleppo which allowed the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.
Moscow and Ankara are now pushing for peace talks between Damascus and the rebels to start soon in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.
“Now we need to do everything for these agreements to come into force, for them to work, so that the negotiating teams that have been or are being formed promptly and as soon as possible arrive in Astana,” Putin said.
Russia and Turkey have both said that the peace talks they will
Peace talks in Astana likely
• The deal brokered by Russia and Turkey is a major breakthrough in the war. • Putin says Damascus and the opposition groups have inked the truce accord and a document expressing a readiness to start peace talks. • Russia will reduce it’s military contingent in Syria after the deal. • However, Putin says Russia will continue to fight terrorism in Syria. • Moscow and Ankara are pushing for peace talks in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. supervise are meant to supplement UN-backed peace efforts, rather than replace them entirely.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia, Turkey and Iran were currently organising for the talks to begin in Astana and pressing for other key international players to get involved.
Lavrov said Moscow would invite Egypt before trying to attract other regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Jordan.
In a clear snub to US President Barack Obama, Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow would look to get the team of President-elect Donald Trump in the mix when he takes power next month.