UN secretary-general welcomes Syria truce

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a US-Russia agreement over a truce deal in Syria and urged all sides to stick to the peace deal to reportedly take effect on February 27.

According to Press TV quoting a statement by Ban's spokesman, the secretary-general welcomed the US-Russian announcement of an agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria as a long-awaited signal of hope.

The cessation of hostilities is meant to be "a first step towards a more durable ceasefire," UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday about the agreement, which is meant to take effect on February 27.

"The Secretary-General strongly urges the parties to abide by the terms of the agreement," he said.

Ban said the truce that was announced Monday "contributes to creating an environment conducive for the resumption of political negotiations," which had been scheduled to resume this week.

UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura, who had indicated that the new round of peace talks would likely be delayed, said on Monday that the US-Russia agreement on Syria will allow a relaunch of political process “very soon.”

In a related development, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the agreement on Syria may become an example for action against the threat of terrorism.

Putin called the plan a real step to stop bloodshed in war-torn Syria.

US Secretary of state John Kerry said on Sunday that he and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, had reached a provisional agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria.

ME