U.S., Russia agree on plans for Syrian truce

• The United States and Russia have agreed on a new ceasefire for Syria that will take effect Saturday, even as major questions over enforcing and responding to violations of the truce were left unresolved. Syria’s warring government and rebels still need to accept the deal.

The timeline for a hopedfor breakthrough comes after the former Cold War foes, backing opposing sides in the conflict, said they finalized the details of a “cessation of hostilities” between President Bashar Assad’s government and armed opposition groups after five years of violence that has killed more than 250,000 people.

The truce will not cover ISIL, the al- Qaida- linked Nusra Front and any other militias designated as terrorist organizations by the UN Security Council. But where in Syria the fighting must stop and where counterterrorism operations can continue must still be addressed. And the five-page plan released by the U.S. State Department leaves open how breaches of the ceasefire will be identified or punished.

The announcement came after Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone Monday, capping weeks of intense diplomacy to stem the violence so that Assad’s government and “moderate” rebel forces might return to peace talks in Geneva. A first round of indirect discussions collapsed almost immediately this month amid a massive government offensive backed by Russian airstrikes in northern Syria.

Obama welcomed t he agreement in the call with Putin that the White House said was arranged at the Russian’s request. The White House said Obama emphasized the key is to ensure that Syria’s government and opposition groups faithfully implement the deal.

“This is going to be difficult to implement,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “We know there are a lot of obstacles, and there are sure to be some setbacks.”

Putin called the agreement a “real step forward that can stop the bloodshed.” Speaking on Russian television, he said Moscow would work with the Syrian government, and expects Washington to do the same with the opposition groups that it supports.

Both sides have until Friday to formally accept the plan. Even if the ceasefire takes hold, fighting will by no means halt.

Russia will surely press on with an air campaign that it insists is targeting terrorists but which the U.S. and its partners say is mainly killing moderate rebels and civilians. While ISIL tries to expand its self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, Nusra is unlikely to end its effort to overthrow Assad.

The Kurds have been fighting ISIL, even as they face attacks from America’s NATO ally Turkey. And Assad has his own history of broken promises when it comes to military action.