First days of Syria truce inspire cautious optimism - Federation Council speaker

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The first days of the truce in Syria inspire cautious optimism despite the obvious difficulty of this process, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko has said. "The first results of the truce inspire cautious optimism. More than one hundred various armed groups have expressed their consent to a ceasefire and formalized this statement. This process is under way," the senator told reporters on Wednesday. "Initially we realized that it would be a difficult process, it is very complex and contradictory," she said, adding that numerous groups of various kinds, including terrorist, ethnic, religious and extremist, had emerged during the armed conflict in Syria. "It is clear that not everyone is interested in this (peaceful - TASS) outcome. Someone sees one’s benefit in the chaos and the continuation of hostilities. There is certain resistance and unwillingness to achieve peace in Syria," Matviyenko said. Nevertheless, "it is difficult to overestimate" the role of the ceasefire agreements reached by Russia and the United States, she said. "It is really a breakthrough decision of the two great nations," Matviyenko noted, adding that this was not only an agreement between the two countries, but also an act of international law binding on all parties, because the agreements on the ceasefire in Syria have taken the form of a UN Security Council resolution. "There cannot be plans other than the ceasefire and the truce," the speaker said. According to the speaker, Russia will "do everything to make sure that this truce and ceasefire expand becoming stable and irreversible" using its influence in the region. "We hope that our partners - the United States and other countries - will too actively contribute to establishing the ceasefire and the truce and thus consolidate this process," she added. Read more