Russia urges speedy UN resolution on Syria truce

IDLIB, Dec 31 ( AFP) - Russia was hoping for a swift UN Security Council vote to bolster its fragile Syria ceasefire Saturday, though diplomats expressed doubt the resolution would pass so quickly or be unanimous.

Moscow says it wants the UN involved in the peace talks between Damascus and rebels it has scheduled to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan in January, although the UN is negotiating its own separate peace efforts slated for February.

The ceasefire, which came into effect Thursday midnight, was holding across most of Syria, though clashes near Damascus underlined the fragility of the deal brokered by rebel supporter Turkey and key regime ally Russia.

Ankara and Moscow say the Astana talks are meant to supplement UN-backed peace efforts, rather than replace them, and want to involve regional players like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan.

Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin voiced hope that the council could vote Saturday “and adopt it unanimously”.

Diplomats however, said they did not see how a quick UN weekend vote could occur as the resolution needed to be “seriously studied” and hinted Russia might be hard-pressed to muster the nine votes needed for it to pass.

Washington is conspicuously absent from the new process, but Moscow has said it hoped to bring US President- elect Donald Trump's administration on board once he takes office in January.

On the first day of the ceasefire Friday, the Britain- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported sporadic violence in the Wadi Barada area, where rebels have cut water supplies to Damascus leaving four million people without water.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said helicopters carried out raids on rebel positions but it was unclear which side had started the clashes.

The forces there include former Al- Qaeda affiliate Fateh al- Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, which Syria's government says is excluded from the ceasefire.

Opposition figures however say the truce applies to all rebel-held territory, even where Fateh al-Sham is present.