Nearly an hour before the cessation of hostilities went into effect, the United Nations Security Council unanimously demanded that all parties to the war in Syria comply with the terms of the US-Russian deal.
The demand was included in a resolution drafted jointly by Russia and the US that also urged the government and opposition to resume UN-brokered peace talks.
UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said he intends to reconvene peace talks on March 7.
Both President Bashar Assad’s government and the main opposition body have agreed to the deal that allows fighting to continue against Daesh and other militant groups like the Nusra Front.
US State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said Washington had received assurances from Moscow that it would not bomb what Washington describes as “moderate opposition” after the truce.
If the cessation of hostilities holds, it would be the first time international negotiations have brought any degree of quiet in Syria’s 5-year-old civil war. But success requires adherence by multiple armed factions, The Daily Star reported.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would keep hitting “terrorist organizations” in Syria even after the cessation of hostilities is implemented.
“The decisive fight against them will, without doubt, be continued,” Putin said in televised remarks.
Hours before a cessation of hostilities in Syria was due to start, warplanes unleashed airstrikes against rebel-held positions in the suburbs of the Syrian capital and near the northern city of Aleppo.