The safe zones were not established by the US, but Trump administration strongly endorsed the efforts in Astana to get the agreement done.
During the campaign, candidate Trump put forward a plan for establishing safe zones in Syria. He later, as President, continued to work on the idea. Although there was much resistance from Turkey, mainly over concerns the US proposal would help the Kurdish fighters whom Turkey see as terrorists, the plan has now come full circle.
With the cooperation of Russia, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others the agreement for safe zones in Syria will come into force on Friday at 21:00 GMT. This was announced by the Russian Defense Ministry. Russia, Iran, and Turkey negotiated the memorandum on Thursday in Astana, Kazakhstan. Although the US is not formally involved in the negotiations of the safe zone memorandum, President Trump has been in contact with the leaders involved and voiced his support.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin said the deal brings hope for a more comprehensive cessation of hostilities in Syria.
“It was supported by all principal players, including the UN, the US administration, Saudi Arabia and other nations, so there is a certain degree of guarantee that the memorandum will be implemented…It is coming into force tomorrow, or rather at midnight Moscow time, on May 6.”
The memorandum designates four areas in Syria as safe zones, where armed groups opposing the Syrian government and not supporting a jihadist agenda would be protected from attacks.
The largest of the four safe zone is in northern Syria. The other three are located in the Homs area, Damascus, and along the border with Jordan in southern Syria.
Fomin said the implementation of the deal may allow the war in Syria to finally stop. He went on to say, “The Russian minister has held working sessions with defense ministers of Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Israel,” and added that respective intelligence services and foreign ministries have been contributing to the de-escalation effort as well.
“The position of the United States, which welcomed the steps towards reducing the level of violence in Syria, improving the humanitarian situation and creating the environment for resolving the conflict, has played a positive role,” said Minister Fomin.
Deputy Head of Operations at the Russian General Staff, Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, told the journalists during the same briefing,“We expect further cooperation from our partners in the Astana process, the observer countries as well as support from international organizations, primarily the UN.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that President Trump supports a proposal to establish safe zones in Syria. “We spoke about this with Mr. Trump yesterday. As far as I understood, the American administration supports these ideas.”
Trump has previously called for the creation of zones for sheltering civilians fleeing Syria’s ongoing civil war.
“There is a new development here,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday after meeting Putin in Sochi. “I am, I have been, and I will be defending the idea of safe zones everywhere.”
Trump and Putin, in a call on Tuesday, agreed to speed up efforts designed to end the conflict in Syria, the White House said. The White House described the call as “very good,” adding the leaders discussed potential safe zones for Syrian civilians. “Trump and Putin agreed that the suffering in Syria has gone on for far too long and that all parties must do all they can to end the violence,” the administration said.
