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Major powers agreed on Friday to a cessation of hostilities in Syria set to begin in a week and to provide rapid humanitarian access to besieged Syrian towns, but failed to secure a complete ceasefire or an end to Russian bombing.
Following a marathon meeting in Munich aimed at resurrecting peace talks that collapsed last week, the powers, including the United States, Russia and more than a dozen other nations, reaffirmed their commitment to a political transition when conditions on the ground improved.
At a news conference, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the Munich meeting produced commitments on paper only.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the news conference that Russia would not stop air attacks in Syria, saying the cessation of hostilities did not apply to ISIS and al Nusrah, which is affiliated with al Qaeda. ISIS militants control large parts of Syria and Iraq
The United States and European allies say few Russian strikes have targeted those groups, with the vast majority hitting Western-backed opposition groups seeking to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad government.
Lavrov said peace talks should resume in Geneva as soon as possible and that all Syrian opposition groups should participate. He added that halting hostilities would be a difficult task.
But British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said ending fighting could only succeed if Russia stopped air strikes supporting Syrian government forces’ advance against the opposition.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday raised the spectre of an interminable conflict or even a world war if powers failed to negotiate an end to five years of fighting in Syria, which has killed 250,000 people, caused a refugee crisis and empowered ISIS militants.
Syria’s main opposition group welcomed the plan by the world powers on Friday.
It cautioned, however, that the agreement must prove to be effective before it joins political talks with government representatives in Geneva.
The first peace talks in two years between belligerents in Syria fell apart last week before they began in the face of the advance by Assad’s forces.
A senior French diplomat said:
The communique of the plan reached in Munich said the powers had established a ceasefire task force, under the auspices of the United Nations, co-chaired by Russia and the United States, and including members having government and opposition groups.
The communique added that sustained humanitarian aid would begin this week to various besieged areas of Syria.
The Assad government for years has repeatedly promised humanitarian access but has rarely lived up to its promises. Western-backed rebels have also been accused of that.
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