Chances of Syria truce stand below 50 percent

Chances of Syria truce stand below 50 percent
Hopes of securing a temporary truce in Syria within a week dimmed on Saturday as Russia's foreign minister put the chances of a quick truce at less than 50 percent.
2 min read
14 February, 2016
Lavrov [L] hinted at Russia's suspicions over US intentions [Getty]
The chances of a temporary truce implemented in Syria are less than 50 percent, Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.

A temporary "cessation of hostilities" in Syria is set to come into force within a week as agreed during a diplomats gathering in Germany on Friday.

Speaking on Saturday at a Munich Security Conference Lavrov said that chances of implementing the truce stood at "49 out of 100 percent."

"If we are moving closer to practical goals of [a] truce, then without cooperation between the military nothing will work out," he said.

Lavrov hinted at Moscow's suspicions over Washington's intentions, urging collaboration between the two states on the delivery of humanitarian supplies and an end to the hostilities in Syria.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had negotiated the truce agreement with Lavrov and others, urged for optimism.

“We will, we will make it work,” Kerry vowed. 

Russia will need to change its target of attacks in Syria, Kerry said.

"To date, the vast majority, in our opinion, of Russia’s attacks have been against legitimate opposition groups… If people who want to be part of the conversation are being bombed, we’re not going to have much of a process."

It remains unclear whether fighters in Syria will adhere to a truce. 

Opposition factions in Syria cautioned against the truce agreement, which they viewed as a "trap."

"This is merely another step towards Russia's plan for Syria, which seeks to support Assad's regime and bury the revolution," Ahmed Berri, chief of staff for the Free Syrian Army, told The New Arab.

"The agreement will be a trap," Berri cautioned, "They will seek to exclude al-Nusra Front and continue with intensified airstrikes against it, killing civilians and opposition armed groups on their way.

Syria's war has killed over 260,000 people, wounded more than a million and displaced half the country's population.