21st Century Wire says…
Will it be possible to achieve agreement between warring factions by Friday?
Watch a video of this report here:
The US and Russia have agreed to “Terms for a Cessation of Hostilities in Syria”, with a ceasefire coming into effect on Saturday 27th February.
A statement said that the agreement will “be applied to [all] those parties to the Syrian conflict that have indicated their commitment”, and parties will have until 12:00 noon on the 26th to indicate such commitment.
Both ISIS and al Nusra are excluded, as Russia’s President Putin explains:
“As for ISIS, Al-Nusra and other terror groups – regarded as such by the UN Security Council – they are totally exempt from the truce,”
“Strikes against them will continue.”
“This is a real chance to stop the bloodshed in Syria,”
Indeed it very well might be, as both Russia and the Syrian army are on the verge of finally crushing what little is left of ISIS.
Last week, the Syrian army captured the last defensive position on the road to ISIS HQ Raqqa.
If this ceasefire with all the other groups fighting in Syria can hold up, it will allow both the Russian air force and Syrian army to focus all of their attention on ISIS’s final stronghold.
That is, of course, a very big ‘if’, and Saudi Arabia has already threatened to remove Assad ‘by force’ if the peace deal collapses.
Interestingly, this news comes just as NATO has openly stated that it will not support Turkey in a war against Russia. Perhaps the West is finally serious about ending this conflict, but these moves have only come about after their plans for Syria have so drastically fallen apart.
Do you believe it is possible to achieve a ceasefire in Syria?
STAY ON TOP OF THE SYRIAN CRISIS: 21st Century Wire Syria Files
