US, Russia Reach Agreement For Ceasefire In Southwest Syria

[karynnj]

5. At some point a ceasefire will hold - when both sides see that they will lose more fighting

Last edited Fri Jul 7, 2017, 02:03 PM - Edit history (1)

The one thing that is confusing here is that this seems to be a bilateral agreement between Russia and the US and there is no mention of them actually having agreement from Syria or the rebels. Not to mention, while this is is a new level of diplomacy by the Trump administration, the Obama administration brokered several ceasefires for the entire country - not just one section -- that all failed - the longest lasting was only around a month. The problem, per Kerry and others, was that neither the US or Russia were able to get their Syrian allies to abide by the terms. However, the Obama administration did get the UN resolution on Syria passed - after getting agreement with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

As ISIS is near losing all land, this might be the best time to get a diplomatic deal - likely using the UN resolution's framework.