US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had reached a provisional agreement on terms of a cessation of hostilities in Syria and that the sides were closer to a ceasefire than ever before.

Kerry said he spoke in the morning with the Russian foreign minister to discuss terms of a ceasefire and said the two now must reach out to the parties in the conflict.
He declined to go into the details of the agreement, saying it “is not yet done.” But he said he hoped President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin would talk soon and that after that, implementation could begin.
“The modalities for a cessation of hostilities are now being completed,” Kerry said. “In fact, we are closer to a ceasefire today than we have been. A cessation of hostilities … is possible over the course of these next hours.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry seemed to stop short of Kerry’s announcement. The ministry said Lavrov and Kerry spoke on the phone Sunday for a second day in a row and discussed “the modality and conditions” for a ceasefire in Syria that would exclude groups that the UN Security Council considers terrorist organizations.
The humanitarian situation has only gotten worse, with an estimated 13.5 million Syrians in need of aid, including 6 million children.
“Peace is better than more war,” Kerry said, standing next to Nasser Judeh, the foreign minister of Jordan, which hosts 635,000 Syrian refugees. “A political solution is better than then a futile attempt to try to find a military one that could result in so many more refugees, so many more jihadists, so much more destruction, and possibly even the complete destruction of Syria itself.”
However, he reiterated the long-time US position that any political solution to the conflict would not work if Syrian President Bashar Assad remains at the helm of the nation. “Make no mistake. The answer to the Syrian civil war will not be found in any military alliance with Assad,” Kerry said. “Let me make that clear.”
He said Russia now has to talk with the Syrian government and Iran, which backs Assad, and the US has to talk with the opposition and members of the International Syria Support Group. He said he knows that not every party will automatically agree to the agreement reached for a ceasefire.
“There is a stark choice for everybody here,” Kerry said.
“I know how much work remains and I don’t know if everyone is going to meet their commitments,” Kerry said. “I can’t vouch for that – the United States can’t make certain of that.”
He said enforcement issues still need to be resolved in addition to how any breaches will be addressed.
“These are details that have to be determined if it going to be effective,” Kerry said.
Later, Kerry met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman.

Source: FRANCE 24, AP and REUTERS, FEBRUARY 22, 2016