A Russian and US-sponsored cease-fire went into effect on the night of Feb. 27. The lull in fighting, which was violated by both sides several times during the weekend according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, will be used by the regime to consolidate new areas falling under its control, experts say.

The temporary truce will be nonetheless difficult to maintain given the ingraining of extremist groups, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, in rebel areas and the labeling by both Russia and the Syrian regime of certain regions as radical, such as Madaya or some Aleppo areas that are often home to moderate or Islamic militants.

Paul Salem, vice president for policy and research at the Middle East Institute, told Al-Monitor he believes the cease-fire is only a temporary truce and in no way an opening for a long-term peaceful solution — an opinion also shared by Syria expert Fabrice Balanche from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In a note published Feb. 23, Balanche estimated that the temporary truce would allow the army to create defensive lines before launching new attacks and consolidating gained territory while preventing counteroffensives.