Syria Ceasefire Holds, as Putin Policy Boxes Obama Into Cooperation

“The first day of cessation of hostilities has ended without any major incidents,” Alexey Borodavkin, Russia’s envoy to the UN in Geneva, stated on Saturday, Feb. 27, after a meeting of the ceasefire working group. “We can be satisfied that fruitful and effective cooperation has been established between Russian and American military who are tracking the situation on the ground, and are taking necessary measures to support the cessation of hostilities.” Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke by phone Saturday, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry report, to discuss “details regarding the full implementation of the cessation of combat activity in Syria, including military coordination between Russia and the U.S. in this regard,” according to Syrian Radio Online.

Reuters news service commented that “Russia’s intervention has opened a path for multilateral diplomacy” regarding Syria, and even the London-based run Syrian Observatory had to admit that “in Damascus and the countryside … for the first time in years, calm prevails,” and that there was no plane activity from Russia’s two air bases in Syria. There were a handful of reported air strikes, they noted, but “we do not know which planes carried out the strikes and also we are not sure if this is considered a breach to the truce, because it is not clear if these towns are included in the truce.” Both American and Russian airstrikes against ISIS and Al-Nusra are continuing, as part of the agreement.

Turkey, under the blustering leadership of Obama-buddy Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reportedly resumed shelling across the border into Syria around the town of Tel Abyad, where the Kurdish- and Arab-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is battling against ISIS. Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko, the head of the Russian coordination center in Latakia, told reporters Sunday that “the Russian center appealed to the U.S. reconciliation center in Amman for explanations about the shelling of Syrian territory from the Turkish side, a member of the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition.” According to U.S. Centcom, the U.S. backed up the SDF with ten air strikes in Tel Abyad since Saturday.