After nearly five years of war that has devastated Syria, destroyed the country’s infrastructure and resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War, a pause in fighting between Syrian government and rebel forces could go into effect in the coming days. The United States and Russia have been instrumental in constructing an acceptable framework resulting in a cessation of fighting to allow aid to be delivered to areas across the country and, hopefully, stop the flow of refugees from the country.
The agreement reached in Munich, which was welcomed by world powers and the 17-nation International Syria Support Group, does not focus on the role of extremist groups such as ISIL and Al Nusra Front, but it does allow for a pause in the violence between the main rebel factions and the government of Bashar Al Assad. While this agreement is a step in the right direction, it faces several challenges and does not constitute a peace agreement or the start of fresh peace talks.
Look at Mr Al Assad’s recent comments as evidence of how far the conflict is from resolution. Speaking to Agence France Presse hours before the agreement was reached, Mr Al Assad vowed to regain control of the entire country and yet again framed the conflict as his government’s fight against extremism. A cessation of violence should first and foremost allow vital aid to be delivered those in need around the country and address the humanitarian disaster in the country. More than 250,000 people have been killed over the past five years and 13.5 million have been displaced, with that number increasing by the day.
The solution to the Syrian crisis lays in legitimate peace talks that address the underlying issues in the conflict. This lull in violence must not be used and exploited by the Assad regime as a pretext to regain more land or control. Hopefully the cessation of violence will allow those in need to get treatment and supplies while sowing the seeds for honest diplomatic peace talks to take hold and equitably resolve the conflict.
