The ceasefire regime began its operation in Syria on February 27th. On the same day, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2268, which was developed by Russia and the US, on support for the ceasefire in Syria. The Syrian governmental troops and several opposition armed groups informed Russia and the US that they accepted the conditions of the ceasefire regime. As for ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusr, and other terrorist organizations, they are excluded from the ceasefire regime. The Defense Ministry of Russia reports on the activities of the Center for Reconciliation of the Parties in Syria.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that for the first three days the total number of local reconciliation agreements increased to 38. At the same time, 31 cases of violations of the truce were recorded. The relevant facts of the violations of the truce were reported to the US group on reconciliation, which is located in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
The Russian and the US co-chairs of the International Syrian Support Group launched a mechanism for implementation of control over observance of the ceasefire by the Syrian government and armed opposition groups. In this regard, we hope that all the statements of some senior officials in Washington about whether there is some plan B and no other alternative plans against Syria in case of resumption of hostilities, all this will remain in words.
According to Zakharova, now everybody needs to approach very carefully, in good faith and responsibly the implementation of the Russian-American agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria. We continue to work with the appropriate targeted representatives and members of the International Syrian Support Group, other influential international players, urging them to support the case with concrete steps to support the US-Russian plan, which could be the basis for the restoration of peace and security in Syria. Also, a successful development of the inter-Syrian political process through the implementation of the provisions of resolution 22-54 of the UN Security Council.
The Foreign Ministry of Russia also noticed that some media representatives, very respected, Western media, began to use such as the texture of the two-week truce period in reporting on a reconciliation, an armistice, after which it should stop supposedly. It's absolutely not true. We note that this is not about two weeks, or any period of truce, we are talking about the fact that the truce should be of unlimited duration. Every effort is made for this. “To be engaged in such a large-scale operation, on which the efforts of a huge number of experts and specialists are targeted, the potential of interstate relations, only in order to give the parties a two-week respite, no one was going to do this. Therefore, it should be clearly understood. If any group, individual or group of someone's collective opinion as to all this will be of a temporary character, it should be clearly indicated it as a personal opinion and not the opinion of the International Syrian Support Group, or the opinion of the United Nations. Here, it seems to me, it is necessary to be very careful with this,” Zakharova stated.
