Thank God! I am happy to hear this:
MUNICH — The United States, Russia and other powers have reached agreement on a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria’s civil war that allows for immediate humanitarian access to besieged areas, Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced here early Friday morning.
The end of hostilities, which Kerry avoided calling a cease-fire, is scheduled to go into effect “in one week’s time,” Kerry said. Humanitarian access to towns and cities in Syria where food and medical supplies have been blocked, sometimes for months, is to begin immediately.
“It was unanimous,” Kerry said. “Everybody today agreed on the urgency of humanitarian access. What we have here are words on paper. What we need to see in the next few days are actions on the ground.”
Agreement came after day-long consultations that lasted until early Friday here. Hours earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov huddled with his counterpart from Iran, Russia’s ally in backing the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry sat down with allies backing the Syrian opposition, before all parties gathered for a joint meeting at which the deal was struck.
Lavrov called cessation of hostilities the “first step” toward a full cease-fire.
The effort has been considered a last chance to stop the carnage in Syria that has left hundreds of thousands dead and sent millions fleeing from the country. What was already a desperate situation in Syria has greatly worsened over the past few weeks, as massive Russian bombardment in and around the city of Aleppo has scattered opposition fighters and driven tens of thousands of civilians toward the barricaded Turkish border.
Um, not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but the Russians seem to be quite clear on their strategy. Major air support for the dictator = gains on the ground.
So far, there’s no sign on the ground that they plan on actually doing anything else.
The words, for all we know, are just part of the PR and don’t-sanction-me-bro thing.
Until the Russians actually stop bombing and tell their dictator to stop killing people, there’s no reason to get too hopeful.
I used to think Assad was the worst. Then ISIS came along. Be nice if there was some choice other than a military dictator or religious dictators.
Let’s hope that this one lasts longer then the one in 2012 which Hillary claims that she brokered but in fact did not.
Assad wanted nothing to do with her.
Hillary started this war.
I’m sure the Reich-wing will be upset. There’s still a lot of unused munitions to be expended.