Nationwide Truce Reached Between Syria Army, Opposition Groups

The Syrian government and opposition groups in the country reached a nationwide cease-fire agreement that took effect at midnight on the night of Dec. 29-30, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday, which was confirmed by both the Syrian Army and several anti-government groups.

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Speaking at the meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Putin said Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government had signed a number of documents, including the cease-fire deal.

The Syrian army said the cease-fire excluded the Islamic State group, the group formerly known as the Nusra Front. and all groups linked to them. Turkey also said that the YPG and PYG, the militant and political arms of the Syrian Kurds, will still be targeted by Turkish forces, though Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu added that the U.N. has not reached consensus on the YPG's status.

The Syrian Kurds announced Wednesday that they will soon present a system of federal government in Syria that they agreed upon with allies, a prospect which could worry neighboring Turkey, which is battling its own Kurds seeking autonomy.

Turkey complained Thursday that the U.S. is arming the YPG, which the U.S. denies, and that it refuses to add the group to the terrorist list for its links to the PKK, the Kurdish guerrilla group in Turkey. Cavusoglu also insisted that Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia militia supported by Iran, leave Syria along with "all foreign fighters."

"The agreements reached are, of course, fragile, need... special attention and involvement ... But after all, this is a notable result of our joint work, efforts by the defense and foreign ministries, our partners in the region," Putin said.

The documents include a ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and the opposition, measures to monitor the cease-fire deal and a statement on the readiness to start peace talks to settle the Syrian crisis, he added.

Turkey and Russia will act as guarantors of the nationwide cease-fire, Turkey's foreign ministry said Thursday as it confirmed the agreement.

"With this agreement, parties have agreed to cease all armed attacks, including aerial, and have promised not to expand the areas they control against each other," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Syrian Army announced a nationwide halt to fighting as Russia, Turkey, Iran push for a political solution to the country's more than six-year-old war.

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Zakaria Malahifji, head of the political office of the Free Syrian Army-affiliated Fastaqim opposition group, confirmed to Reuters that several groups had agreed to the nationwide truce.The Russian leader also said Moscow had agreed to reduce its military deployment in Syria. Lavrov said the ministry has started preparations for the meeting on Syrian crisis resolution in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

The agreement has been pushed for by Russia, Iran and Turkey after the United States failed to agree with Russia on terms of a cease-fire in international talks earlier this year.

Thursday’s breakthrough in negotiations between the warring parties could spell the end of the bloody conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to UN estimates, and displaced millions of others, sending waves of refugees into neighboring countries and Europe.