MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced an agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and the armed opposition factions had been reached. The agreement will come into force on February 27.
"This is an attempt to lawfully settle the issue on the basis of the UN Security Council's decisions. And, as was the case with Iran, we see that serious conditions to reject military tools in favor of political instruments are being created… Russia and the United States are becoming the main players in transforming this process from military into a political one," Pushkov told RIA Novosti.
"I think that some regional players will try to use the ceasefire to strengthen the positions of other groups, whom they support. First of all, I mean Turkey and Saudi Arabia," the lawmaker said.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with the country’s government fighting numerous opposition factions and jihadist groups, including Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, both outlawed in many countries including Russia.
