The United States and Russia announced Monday that they have agreed to the terms of a partial cease-fire in Syria, a deal that will depend on their ability to cooperate amid deep mutual suspicion and test their willingness and ability to dictate terms to their allies on the ground.
Under the agreement, Washington and Moscow are to establish a hotline between them to monitor compliance and resolve potential problems, a joint statement said. The two are also “prepared to work together to exchange pertinent information” delineating territory currently held by various Syrian combatants and ensuring that neither country, nor any of their allies, bombs groups or areas covered by the accord.
Opposition groups, and the government of Bashar al-Assad, have until noon Friday to inform the United States or Russia that they agree to the terms, or risk coming under renewed attack. The agreement excludes the Islamic State, al-
Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, and any other “terrorist” group that in the future may be designated by the United Nations.
The opposition High Negotiations Committee, after an emergency meeting Monday in Riyadh, said it accepted the agreement. Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported the U.S. and Russian announcements, with no government response.
President Obama spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladi¬mir Putin earlier Monday, “at Putin’s request,” about the “understanding” that had been reached, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
Earnest offered tempered optimism about an agreement that he said provided a “moment of opportunity.” Its success, he said, depended on “all parties” following through “on the commitments they have made.”
While the United States is depending on Russia to bring the Syrian government and Iran to heel, rebel backers including Turkey and Saudi Arabia are under pressure to rein in groups thought to be under their control. The deal does not address the resupply of combatants by their outside backers.
The U.S.-Russia hotline and establishment of a joint task force with military components are likely to be seen by Putin as something of a victory. The United States and NATO cut all military coordination with Russia after its intervention in Ukraine.
The agreement calls on all parties on the ground to “refrain from acquiring or seeking to acquire territory from other parties to the ceasefire.”
In southern Syria, where both Jabhat al-Nusra and opposition groups backed by the United States and its partners are largely fighting separately against government forces, Russian strikes against Jabhat al-Nusra are likely to continue.
Problems will doubtless occur in the northwest, where fighting is currently most fierce and where Jabhat al-Nusra fighters are intermingled with the opposition rebels supported in varying degrees by the United States and its European and regional allies.
“Russia and the regime will target the areas of the revolutionaries on the pretext of the Nusra Front’s presence . . . and if this happens, the truce will collapse,” Bashar al-Zoubi, head of the political office of the Yarmouk Army, part of the rebel force, told the Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman.
The United States and Russia hope to deal with the overlap by exchanging what the agreement calls “aggregated data that delineates territory where groups that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of the cessation of hostilities are active, and a focal point for each side, in order to ensure effective communication.”
“We are all aware of the significant challenges ahead,” Kerry said in a statement.” Over the coming days, we will be working to secure commitments from key parties” that they will abide by the terms of the agreement.

Source: Washington Post, 22Feb 2016