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Syria fully supports Moscow in ceasefire issue — ambassador

Russia and the United States on Monday adopted a joint statement on truce in Syria as of February 27 midnight Damascus time
Syria’s Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad  Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Syria’s Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Syria looks forward to the implementation of the agreements reached by Moscow and Washington to resolve the situation in the country while fully supporting Russia’s stance on the issue, Syria’s Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad has said.

"Damascus fully supports Moscow in the truce issue in Syria," the diplomat said. "We believe that the Russian-US agreements on the ceasefire will be implemented."

Russia and the United States on Monday adopted a joint statement on truce in Syria as of February 27 midnight Damascus time. The parties to the conflict - the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition groups - have already given their preliminary consent to ceasefire. Russia’s air base Hmeimim in Syria has opened a coordination center. All opposition groups are free to use its hotline number to declare they have decided to stop fighting.

Russian and US military will mark on maps the areas taken up by Syrian opposition groups not to be attacked by the Syrian army, the Russian air group and the US-led anti-terrorist coalition. The Russian-US agreement is not applicable to the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations blacklisted by the UN Security Council.

Local ceasefires key to settlement in Syria

Opposition representative in the Idlib province Ahmad Mubarak sees local ceasefires between official Damascus and opposition groups as the key condition for ending the civil war and returning to peaceful life in the country.

Mubarak was one of those who signed a ceasefire agreement with Syrian government. "In our region, many villages - both faraway and close - reconciled. We hope that similar decisions will be made across the country. This will allow us to stop bloodshed," he told a group of Russian journalists.