Mattis: U.S. reviewing Syria safe zones, has many questions

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. owes it to the people of Syria to take a close look at the Russian proposal to create several “safe zones” in Syria. But Mattis also said the plan poses many unanswered questions, including whether it would be effective.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Copenhagen, Mattis said the borders of the proposed cease-fire areas are still being worked out, although the general locations are “well understood.” And he suggested that it’s still not clear what effect the plan could have on the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State militants.

“It’s all in process right now,” said Mattis, who was offering some of the first extensive public U.S. comments on the agreement reached Friday by Russia, Turkey and Iran. “Who is going to be ensuring they’re safe? Who is signing up for it? Who is specifically to be kept out of them?”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be meeting with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, about the Syria crisis on Wednesday.

According to activists in Syria, there already have been skirmishes on the edge of a large cease-fire zone in the northwest portion of the country that Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to enforce.

The U.S. is not part of the pact, and the Syrian government and the opposition haven’t signed the deal.

That leaves the U.S. and its allies free to continue the campaign against Islamic State militants. It doesn’t, however, prevent Turkish troops and their Syrian allies from clashing or going after the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds.