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Roundup: Implementation urged after deal reached on cessation of hostilities in Syria

Xinhua, February 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Top diplomats attending the fourth foreign ministers' meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) here have agreed on a nationwide cessation of hostilities to be implemented soon in the war-torn Middle East country.

Members of the ISSG also agreed to immediately accelerate and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas in Syria. A working group is to start meeting in Geneva to oversee this issue.

The agreement on a pause in fighting in Syria marks a significant step towards the aim of ending the country's civil war. Top diplomats here called for real steps to implement this deal after it was reached.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday the Munich meeting on Syria has achieved hard-won results and "China is pleased to see this result."

As a next step, it is important to ensure that the reached agreement will be implemented, Wang said.

"China advocates a strict implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 on Syria which was adopted last year, especially the commitment to find a political solution to the Syria issue," Wang told reporters.

He said China would continue to participate in the peace process in Syria and, when necessary, continue to play an active and constructive role and offer proposals to help resolve the Syria issue.

Representatives from 17 countries and international organizations, including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, gathered here on Thursday, hoping to restart the Syrian peace talks.

Speaking to reporters early Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a cessation of hostilities across Syria will be carried out within a week, so as to reduce violence and allow delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged civilians.

He added that details of the truce, including ways to monitor and verify it, have yet to be worked out.

Kerry acknowledged that the Munich meeting produced commitments on paper only. He and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed that the real test would be whether all parties to the Syrian conflict honor those commitments.

Earlier this month, UN-mediated negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups in Geneva, Switzerland, have been delayed to Feb. 25.

Lavrov, in a joint news conference with Kerry, said that it would be a "complicated task" to finally achieve a cease-fire in Syria.

"We hope the agreements reached will be reorganized into practical steps," Lavrov said before a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir in Munich, according to Russia's RIA news agency.

According to the agreement reached by ISSG members, the cease-fire in Syria will not apply to groups designated as terrorists.

Lavrov told reporters that Moscow's air force would continue its airstrikes against targets of the Islamic State and Al-Nusra as the agreement permitted. Endi