According to Reuters, Syrian rebels said they will consider the cease fire null and void if it will continue to break the government troops and their allies. “A continuation of violations by the regime, and the bombing and attempts to attack the areas controlled by the revolutionary factions, will make the agreement invalid”, — quotes Agency the statement, signed “the next rebel groups”.
Reuters notes that in some areas of Syria following the announcement of the ceasefire, continued fighting and air strikes.
The day before Reuters reported that the ceasefire was broken almost immediately after the start. According to the Agency, the truce was broken during clashes between rebels and government troops between the provinces of Idlib and Hama.
On 29 December President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced the signing of the Syrian government and the opposition of a number of agreements — the ceasefire, the set of measures to monitor the ceasefire and a Declaration of readiness for the start of peace talks. The signing of the agreements was the result of the work of Russia with Turkey and Iran, said Putin.
The Minister of defence of Russia Sergey Shoigu announced that the ceasefire in Syria will be effective from midnight on 30 December. Organizations which do not stop fighting, go to the category of terrorist — against them “begin to act as well as against ISIS and “Dzhabhat EN-Nusra” (the activities of these organizations banned in Russia),” said Shoigu.
Also on 29 December, the press service of the Kremlin announced that Putin had a phone conversation with Bashar al-Assad in which the Syrian President expressed his willingness to abide by the truce.
In the message of the Kremlin it was noted that in conversation, the presidents praised the agreement on a ceasefire and transition to a political process in Syria. Also Putin and Assad expressed the General opinion that the launch of negotiations between the warring parties “would constitute an important step towards the final resolution of the crisis.”
