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SYRIA TRUCE 'TURNING POINT'

USA and Russia agree ceasefire plan – and joint air strikes – in historic peace deal

A week-long truce from Monday will allow urgently needed aid to reach starving population

John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov

THE United States and Russia have agreed a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria following marathon peace talks.

The breakthrough came just after midnight following a day of talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov
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US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after agreeing the truce plan in Geneva early todayCredit: Getty Images
Aleppo war damage
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Fighting is raging around the devastated former commercial hub Aleppo, which now lies in ruinsCredit: Getty Images

Mr Kerry called the deal a potential "turning point" in a five-year conflict that has killed as many as 500,000 people.

It depends on Syria's Russian backed dictator Bashar al-Assad and US-backed rebel groups agreeing to suspend hostilities.

The ceasefire is due to begin at sunset on Monday September 12, coinciding with the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.

It is hoped the truce will allow urgently needed aid to reach starving people in areas such as second city Aleppo.

Mr Lavrov had earlier said he was considering "calling it a day" on talks as frustrations between the two sides boiled over.

After the deal was struck, he said the US and Russia have agreed to carry out joint air strikes in Syria if the ceasefire holds for a week.

He said: "We will jointly agree on strikes against terrorists to be carried out by the Russian and American air forces. We have agreed on the zones in which these strikes will be carried out."

He added: "This is just the beginning of our new relations."

The deal is the culmination months of frenetic diplomacy that included four meetings between Kerry and Lavrov since August 26, and a lengthy face-to-face in China between Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.

The arrangement hinges on Moscow pressuring Assad's government to halt all offensive operations against Syria's armed opposition and civilian areas.

Mr Lavrov said President Assad's government was prepared to comply.

Washington must persuade "moderate" rebels to break ranks with the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate, and other extremist groups.

Both sides have failed to deliver their ends of the bargain over several previous truces.

But the new arrangement goes further by promising a new US-Russian counter-terrorism alliance, only a year after Obama chastised Putin for a military intervention that US officials said was mainly designed to keep Assad in power and target more moderate anti-Assad forces.

In response, Russia has criticised America's financial and military assistance to groups that have intermingled with the Nusra Front on the battlefield.

Sergei Lavrov, John Kerry
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The deal followed marathon peace talks between the two global powers, who must now persuade Assad and rebel groups to complyCredit: AP:Associated Press
Aleppo bomb damage
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The week-long ceasefire will allow aid supplies to reach the people trapped in besieged Aleppo and other areasCredit: Reuters

Kerry said it would be "wise" for opposition forces to separate completely from Nusra, adding: "Going after Nusra is not a concession to anybody. It is profoundly in the interests of the United States."

The military deal would go into effect after both sides abide by the truce for a week and allow unimpeded humanitarian deliveries.

Then, the US and Russia would begin intelligence sharing and targeting coordination, while Assad's forces would be restricted to operations against the Islamic State.

The proposed level of U.S.-Russian interaction has upset several leading national security officials in Washington, including Defence Secretary Ash Carter and National Intelligence Director James Clapper, and Kerry only appeared at the news conference after several hours of internal US discussions.

Getting Assad's government and rebel groups to comply with the deal may now be more difficult as fighting rages around the divided city of Aleppo.

Forty days of fighting in Aleppo has killed nearly 700 civilians, including 160 children, according to a Syrian human rights group.

Volunteer first responders said they pulled the bodies of nine people, including four children, from rubble following air raids Friday on a rebel-held area.

 

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