Senior US and Russian military commanders have discussed the situation in Syria, where a Russian-proposed plan to establish four safe zones to promote a cessation of hostilities came into force hours ago.<\/b>
\nGeneral Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, called General Valery Gerasimov, the chairman of the Russian General Staff, to discuss the latest developments in Syria by phone, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The ministry\u2019s statement was vague on the results of the consultations, saying that there was \u201ca confirmation of the readiness to resume, in full volume, the implementation by the parties of the obligations under the Russian-American Memorandum on ensuring safety and prevention of incidents in the airspace of Syria.\u201d
Russia suspended the memorandum after the US launched Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase last month. Moscow considers the attack to have been an act of international aggression. The document is meant to prevent possible adverse encounters between American and Russian warplanes over Syria.
The ministry said the officials had also discussed \u201cadditional measures to prevent conflict situations during joint operations against ISIL and Jabhat Al-Nusra, \u201d the two groups designated by the UN as terrorists operating in Syria.
Russia, Turkey, and Iran agreed upon the plan to establish four safe zones in Syria during peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is meant to provide a degree of safety to armed opposition groups that pledge to end their violent revolt and seek a political transition in Syria. Under the plan, Damascus and these groups have agreed not to engage in hostilities with each other in those safe zones.
The safe zones have been established in Syria\u2019s Idlib Governorate and parts of neighboring Latakia, Aleppo and Hama provinces, the northern part of Homs province, Damascus\u2019 Eastern Ghouta neighborhood, and parts of southern Deraa and Quneitra provinces that border on Jordan. The exact borders of the zones have yet to be demarked and agreed upon by the three guarantors of the plan.
Observation posts and checkpoints manned by the guarantors are to be established along the lines to monitor how well the deal is observed. The first hours after the agreement came into force were marked by a reduced level of violence, but some violations have been reported.
The Russian Center for Syrian reconciliation said on Saturday that it had received reports that some jihadist groups were planning to \u201cattempt to derail the memorandum, \u201d but added that the Russian military is prepared to \u201celiminate any possible provocations by the terrorists.\u201d
The deal offers no protection to terrorist groups such as Islamic State (formerly ISIS\/ISIL) , which remain legitimate targets in Syria. The armed opposition is expected to keep the jihadists from using the zones as safe havens. The memorandum also states that the three guarantors will \u201ctake all necessary measures to continue the fight\u201d against the terrorists.
The plan has been hailed by UN and received reserved approval from Washington. Russia said it expects the US-led coalition to refrain from flying over the safe zones, but the Pentagon has yet to publicly make such a commitment.<\/p>\n

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