State Dept will judge Syrian ceasefire ‘by the results’

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces on Saturday announced a 48-hour ceasefire in the southern city of Deraa as mediators attempt a new round of peace talks, Reuters reported.

According to a report by the Syrian news agency SANA, the Syrian Army general command had ordered the ceasefire to begin at noon on Saturday to support “reconciliation efforts” between the various factions at war in the country.

Peace negotiations began with United Nations support in Geneva last year with little progress. Since then, Russia has also begun its own efforts at peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The ceasefire on Saturday marked the beginning of the seventh round of negotiations in Geneva. The United States welcomed the ceasefire in a statement, but pressed for results, not talk.

“We will judge this initiative by the results not the words,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. Nauert urged groups on both sides to live up to the agreement and allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians stranded by the conflict.

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Rebel groups told Reuters that fighting was still occurring in the city hours after the ceasefire supposedly began.

“We have not heard of any such talk and the regime is still attacking us with the same intensity,” a commander told the news service at 3:30 p.m. local time.

Deraa is a major front line in the conflict. In recent weeks, Syria’s government and Iranian-backed militias have stepped up attacks in the city. 

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed since the war began more than six years ago, and the conflict has sparked a region-wide refugee crisis that has affected countries across the world.