Russian president Vladimir Putin informed King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia about the essence of the Russian-US joint statement of on Syria, according to a Kremlin statement.
“Putin explained in detail the essence of the Syrian settlement proposals put forward in the joint statement of Russia and the United States,” the Kremlin report stated.
Salman welcomed the agreement and vowed to support its implementation, according to the statement.
Putin also had a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad, according to the official news agency TASS. Al-Assad said his government is ready to execute this ceasefire agreement.
The US and Russia announced Monday plans for a ceasefire between the regime and the opposition in Syria starting on 29 February, with the exception of “Islamic State” (IS) and Al-Nusra front, both of which are considered terrorist organisations by the UN.
In a joint statement, the US department of state said all sides will announce whether or not they will commit to the ceasefire before 1200 GMT+2 (local Syrian time) Friday.
According to the agreement, the regime troops and its allies will halt any military action against the moderate opposition and vice versa. The plan allows Syrian and Russian jets to continue striking locations affiliated with IS.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said those who question the ceasefire agreement are calling for more war. “Today there are many people who want to prevent the normal development of cooperation between Russia and the US. There are even those who are trying to undermine opportunities to promote the Russian-US agreements and boost our cooperation on the most pressing issues of our time,” Lavrov said.
Some voices from US allies are questioning the viability of this agreement. “We want to say frankly that these voices are a call for war rather than for peace,” he said.
