BEIRUT: A Syrian ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia is set to come into force Monday at sundown, but opposition forces have yet to sign on to the truce.
The accord aims to freeze fighting between President Bashar al-Assad’s forces — which have backed the deal — and the armed opposition, but does not apply to militants.
Here are the main points of the agreement, which could also see the first joint military campaign by Moscow and Washington against militant groups, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
– An initial 48-hour ceasefire is set to begin at 7:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) on Monday and, if successful, can be renewed for another 48 hours at a time, Lavrov said.
– During that time, the Syrian regime is to refrain from flying “combat missions anywhere where the opposition is present in an area that we have agreed on with very real specificity,” Kerry said.
– Left unclear is whether those areas include places which are held jointly by rebels and Fateh al-Sham Front, Al-Qaeda’s former ally.
– If the truce holds for one week, the United States and Russia “would then work together to develop military strikes against” Fateh al-Sham.
– The deal requires both sides “halting all attacks, including aerial bombardments and any attempts to gain additional territory at the expense of the parties to the cessation”, Kerry said.
– “It requires unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all of the besieged and the hard-to-reach areas, including Aleppo” city, with both sides pulling back from two key access routes running from the north and south into the divided city.
– According to US special envoy for Syria Michael Ratney, any violations would be dealt with “based on the original truce agreement” reached in late February, which created a joint US-Russian monitoring mechanism.
– From Monday, the US and Russia will create a Joint Implementation Centre for the “sharing of information necessary for the delineation of territories controlled by (Fateh al-Sham) and opposition groups in the area of active hostilities”.
– “After seven continuous days of adherence to the cessation of hostilities and increased humanitarian access, then US and Russian experts will work together to defeat” Fateh al-Sham and the Islamic State jihadist group, Kerry said.
– These measures can only be implemented if “groups within the legitimate opposition… distance themselves in every way possible from” Fateh al-Sham and IS, he said.
– According to Lavrov, coordinated strikes against the militants will be carried out by US and Russian planes in specific areas. “The Syrian air forces will be functional in other areas,” he said, without specifying where.
– Russia and Lavrov “have the capability to press the Assad regime to stop this conflict and to come to the table and make peace,” Kerry said.
– And after a “period of reduced violence… we will facilitate a political transition, which is the only way to bring about a durable end to this war”.
