If Syria cease-fire fails, what is Plan B?
The United States said it was encouraged that the Syrian cessation of hostilities appeared to be holding, with no significant violations reported in the past day, as analysts said Russia was backing the truce because it feared a quagmire and talk of a US "Plan B."
WASHINGTON — The US State Department said March 1 it was encouraged that a partial cease-fire that went into effect Feb. 27 in Syria appeared to be largely holding, with no significant violations reported over the past 24 hours. The cautiously optimistic assessment of the three-day-old cessation of hostilities came as UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura announced that he would host resumed talks between Syrian government and opposition delegations in Geneva starting March 9, which would last up to three weeks.
“The early results are encouraging,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters March 1, referring to the cessation of hostilities in Syria.
“Over the last 24 hours, we have not been apprised of any claims of additional violence of any significance,” Kirby said. “For the first time in five years, you can actually see a notable reduction in violence of an organized nature.”
The cautiously upbeat assessment came amid signs that the United States and Russia were largely satisfied with each other’s implementation of the partial cease-fire deal to date and the UN plans to relaunch a political reconciliation process to try to put Syria on a more lasting path to de-escalation and stability.
