EU, US and Russia to 'pause' Syria war

Syria hostilities are to “pause” in one week and aid agencies are to have full access under a new accord which, Germany "hopes," will lead to fewer people fleeing to Europe.

The deal, concluded by almost 20 countries at a conference in Munich, Germany, in the small hours of Friday (12 February) said “cessation of hostilities will commence in one week, after confirmation by the Syrian government and opposition.”

It noted that fighting can go on against UN-designated “terrorist groups” such as Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nusra.

It said “sustained delivery of assistance shall begin this week” by air and by land to a list of besieged areas, including Deir Ez Zour, Fouah, Kafrayah, rural Damascus, Madaya, Mouadhimiyeh, and Kafr Batna.

It also said that the group of 20 or so states, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), will create a new “task-force,” under UN auspices, to monitor compliance via weekly reports.

Russia compliance

The group includes France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, the UK, and the US, as well as China, Iran, Russia, and Gulf states, whose foreign ministers attended the Munich talks.

But the EU and the US underlined that Russian compliance will be the main test of the accord.

“The task now is that Moscow and Tehran bring the Assad [Syrian] regime to lay down their arms,” German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told press.

“Whoever doesn’t cooperate, shows not only in the eyes of the world that he isn’t interested in a political solution, he must also reckon with all the consequences for refusing,” he said.

He added that he’s “relieved” because “new hope has arisen” not just for Syrian people, but “also for us in Europe, on a reduction of the pressure of the flow of refugees from the region.”

The UK’s Philip Hammond said the deal will only work if there’s “a major change of behaviour” by Russia.

“Russia claims to be attacking terrorist groups and yet consistently bombs non-extremist groups including civilians. If this agreement is to work, this bombing will have to stop.”

US secretary of state John Kerry was less direct.

He praised his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for having “worked closely with me.”

But he added: “What we have here are words on paper. What we need to see in the next few days are actions on the ground.”

He said the accord stipulates a “cessation of hostilities” instead of a “ceasefire,” because the latter term “connotes something far more permanent and far more reflective of sort of an end of conflict.”

“It is distinctly not that. This is a pause … the objective is to achieve a durable, long-term ceasefire at some point in time.”

John and Sergei

For his part, Lavrov, who spoke to press alongside Kerry, to whom he referred as “John,” said Friday’s deal vindicates Russia’s demand to be included in the international solution to the conflict.

“Our colleagues are becoming more and more aware of the need of such cooperation and we are happy about that,” he said.

He defended Russia’s air strikes on the opposition stronghold of Aleppo, which prompted tens of thousands of people to flee toward Europe last weekend.

He said parts of the Syrian city are controlled by extermist groups Jabhat al-Nusrah, Jaysh al-Islam, and Ahrar al-Sham.

The Russian minister accused Turkey, which shot down a Russian jet last year, of support for terrorist groups in Syria, including by buying oil from IS.

He also blamed past Western intervention in Iraq and Libya, as well as non-intervention on Palestine, for making a mess of the region.

He noted that in the past “we had quite an emotional discussion on who is targeting right targets,” but he said the ISSG task-force will clarify legitimate objectives.

He said some aid agencies “lie” about Russian air strikes on civilians.

He also accused Western media, singling out British media, of “propaganda.”

“Propaganda was popular in Soviet times in our country. Right now we have abandoned this practice but it seems that a lot of manifestations of such trends are still present in mass media in other countries; probably we should put an end to this,” he said.

The joint press briefing did not touch on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Kerry let Lavrov’s remarks on propaganda pass without comment, despite EU and US concern on Russia’s anti-Western propaganda machine.

Assad?

The Syria accord also left to one side the future of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, which is to be discussed in the separate, so-called Vienna process.

Western leaders told press on Friday he must go as part of a future “negotiated” solution.

But Steinmeier told German media on Thursday: “Syria’s state structures need to be maintained or where necessary re-established. No-one wants a power vacuum in the region.”

Lavrov added on Friday the Vienna talks must proceedd “without any ultimatums, without any pre-conditions.”