This is not because the Syrian opposition hasn't taken ceasefires seriously, but because the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its allies have re-defined ceasefires.
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Will they update blacklist as ceasefires are made & abrogated?
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Ceasefires also have become a way to make political statements.
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CEASEFIRES in South Sudan's civil war tend to be short.
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Russia and its proxies in Ukraine frequently violated ceasefires there.
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Two earlier rounds of peace talks yielded no lasting ceasefires.
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Le Drian called for ceasefires "everywhere" and unconditional humanitarian access.
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The council has failed to even agree on days-long ceasefires.
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They have also worked to broker ceasefires in the Syrian conflict.
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Ceasefires and humanitarian convoys were planned and sometimes came to pass.
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"They announced ceasefires but attacked wherever they wanted to," he added.
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Ceasefires enable each party to refuse concessions and strengthen its position.
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Sadly, another common factor in Syrian ceasefires, both national and local, is that the colossal efforts needed to achieve a halt to hostilities are rarely matched by efforts to maximize ceasefires' potential and build upon them.
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No trust in ceasefires or the cessation of hostilities or humanitarian corridors.
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Russian representatives have played a role in negotiating local ceasefires and evacuations.
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He signed ceasefires with ethnic militias and business deals with neighboring countries.
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The days in which the two ceasefires overlapped were not entirely peaceful.
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Ceasefires have been declared before in Yemen, but each time conflict has resumed.
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The fate of those negotiations are unclear, and several previous ceasefires have disintegrated.
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Since then, Washington has worked hard to negotiate peace with Moscow, producing two ceasefires.
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The regime has used past ceasefires to resupply troops and prepare for subsequent offensives.
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It may be small and narrow, and the ceasefires may be short and limited.
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But this has held unlike all of the other ceasefires that didn't mean anything.
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But Turkey and Russia have also worked to broker ceasefires in the Syrian civil war.
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Other short-term ceasefires have been called in the past for Aleppo, with little result.
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The DCC is the United Nations-backed military commission responsible for overseeing ceasefires in Yemen.
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In the end, 134 were evacuated, less than previous days when there were no ceasefires.
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What all this means is that ceasefires in Syria must not be taken at face value.
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Russia and Damascus have accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving eastern Ghouta during daily ceasefires.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry said he wanted a permanent truce rather than piecemeal ceasefires.
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The African Union announced Monday it would be open to sanctioning leaders who were violating ceasefires.
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Unfortunately, the long charade of talks followed by broken ceasefires suits Mr Assad only too well.
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Regional and Western powers alike have been exasperated by a string of failed ceasefires and deals.
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It has long been traditional for Colombia's armed groups to declare holiday and election period ceasefires.
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Sporadic ceasefires during the early months of the war laid the groundwork for the Christmas Truce.
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The talks on ceasefires and humanitarian aid must not stop during this period of transition in Washington.
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To mollify the politicians in exile, the fighters insisted they were there to talk only about ceasefires.
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The United States and Russia have been working to enforce ceasefires in the city and surrounding region.
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Egyptian mediators, credited with brokering ceasefires in previous rounds of violence, were working to prevent further hostilities.
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But most of the time when I've been in these areas, there's been ceasefires or relative peace.
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The outgoing government has signed ceasefires with many of the ethnic armies, but some have broken down.
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Despite recent ceasefires brokered by Russia and America, the two countries' aims in Syria are in conflict.
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Russia and Damascus have accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving eastern Ghouta during the daily ceasefires.
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A familiar pattern Looking at the series of ceasefires in Syria over the past year reveals a pattern.
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But ceasefires are also a way of playing power games, not just between opponents but also among allies.
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The regime has in the past used this co-operation to justify breaking ceasefires and bombing rebel positions.
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Recent ceasefires with opposition forces fighting Assad could form the basis of an eventual political solution for Syria.
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Tillerson said the US would also discuss with Moscow joint efforts to implement ceasefires and deliver humanitarian aid.
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And here are five reasons why: First, in the best of circumstances, ceasefires are made to be broken.
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Second, the ceasefires threw light on both sides' — but most notably the Taliban's — ability to dial down violence.
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Both sides have said they will honour, for the time being at least, the ceasefires they declared this summer.
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Ceasefires designed to help bring aid to people trapped in war-torn areas only last a matter of days.
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Russia, which backs the Syrian government in the war, has instead called for daily humanitarian ceasefires from 9 a.m.
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She's brokered Middle East peace deals and ceasefires, stared down drug lords and terrorists, expanded democracy around the globe.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)What was supposed to be a day of ceasefires turned into a day of carnage. Again.
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Over the coming five years various ceasefires will be agreed under the terms of the protocol and then violated.
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Russia and the U.S. have previously brokered ceasefires for Syria, which has been embroiled in civil war since 2011.
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Through these truces and ceasefires, the regime is neutralizing the last pockets of rebels who could threaten its core territory.
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Russia has attempted to negotiate ceasefires in Syria, and in January began withdrawing some military forces from the conflict area.
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All ceasefires negotiated between Russia, the US, and other powers exclude designated terrorist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda.
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In February, he announced a policy that prevents the government from being able to establish bilateral ceasefires with any armed
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Facing worsening violence, women have negotiated local ceasefires and advocated for a seat at the table at international peace talks.
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The two main rebel forces in the suburbs signed ceasefires with Russia in the summer, but fighting has carried on.
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The Syrian government even announced a bunch of ceasefires as trial runs in this region leading up to this announcement.
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A firm deal has yet to be signed despite a series of discussions and ceasefires on tit-for-tat tariffs.
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Instead, it has tried to stop Russian airstrikes by encouraging ceasefires and a political solution to the Syrian civil war.
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But when the conflict ends, ceasefires are agreed, and troops retreat, unexpected sanctuaries for wildlife can appear in their wake.
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U.S. monitors would be able to quickly observe regime violations firsthand without the disputes over veracity that plagued previous ceasefires.
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Previous ceasefires, however, have had a poor record of ending fighting in Syria, where Assad's forces have gained the upper hand.
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Ghani has urged ceasefires with the Taliban before, but this was the first unconditional offer since he was elected in 2014.
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Local ceasefires were announced late last week in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus and in northern areas of Latakia province.
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The unilateral embargo is another signal by Washington that it is losing patience with Kiir after ceasefires have been repeatedly violated.
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Despite several ceasefires, the conflict in Aleppo has intensified in recent months, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the city.
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The armed conflict in the eastern Donbass region has died down following numerous ceasefires that have been implemented and then collapsed.
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A source familiar with the talks said Hezbollah and the Lebanese army had been communicating over the ceasefires and ongoing negotiations.
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No enforcement mechanisms are spelled out, even though the Syrian government has violated past ceasefires and Russia is an unreliable guarantor.
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Mr Konashenkov says Russia has helped broker ceasefires in dozens of villages, and convinced thousands of militants to lay down arms.
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Nonetheless, the ceasefires are a helpful indicator and might build confidence that steps toward peace agreed by leaders could be realized.
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Risking their lives, they've helped to secure local ceasefires, mobilized campaigns for reconciliation, and opened secret schools in ISIS-controlled territories.
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Ghani, therefore, is seeking opportunities for respite for his countrymen in the form of peace offers and ceasefires with the Taliban.
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As a matter of fact, we have declared no less than eight ceasefires since 1993 to pave the way for negotiations.
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Russia and the United States have previously brokered ceasefires for Syria, which has been embroiled in a civil war since 2011.
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Methodically, with the Geneva peace process stymied and successive ceasefires failing, regime forces and their allies embarked on a new strategy.
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It said it was also ready to organise more ceasefires on the ground in Aleppo to allow wounded civilians to be evacuated.
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If allowed to continue, this trend will destroy the de-escalation zones and cause the ceasefire to fail like all previous ceasefires.
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Seven ceasefires brokered between government and rebel forces by the United Nations have failed while U.N.-backed peace talks have repeatedly broken down.
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Previous ceasefires brokered during Syria's horrific civil war have proven short-lived, and the U.S. military's lack of involvement does not appear promising.
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Representatives of both the government and communist guerrillas would sign a joint declaration committing "to unilateral ceasefires with no time limit", it said.
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The unilateral move would signal that the Trump administration has lost patience with South Sudan's warring sides after ceasefires have been repeatedly violated.
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Unfortunately, that fits the pattern seen time and again in Syria -- there's been talk, even a few announced ceasefires, but no real peace.
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International attempts to establish ceasefires to allow in United Nations humanitarian aid have failed, although other aid groups have brought in limited supplies.
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Hopes for anything more than sporadic local ceasefires are faint, especially since Russia's air campaign has strengthened the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
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There have been dozens of ceasefires agreed since the start of the conflict, which has seen more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, killed.
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The government and the NDF had initiated separate ceasefires in August, paving the way for peace talks in Oslo, brokered by the Norwegian government.
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Doha has used this sway to negotiate with various groups including the Taliban, as well as to help negotiate ceasefires between Israel and Hamas.
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But there are going to be cases where ceasefires are going to be violated, and the question becomes: How do you deal with that?
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But after a series of broken ceasefires, the Syrian government, which is backed by Russia, launched a massive offensive against the last opposition enclave.
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Alaya makes use of the daily pauses to visit the ruins of the house but says the brief ceasefires leave little time to search.
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Ceasefires are called by canvassing neighborhoods with posters, handing out flyers, and speaking with people in the neighborhood -- including rival gangs -- via social media.
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While the first two ceasefires of 2016 were declared by the United States and Russia, the latest one has been led by Russia and Turkey.
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In contrast, operations in Cambodia and Northern Ireland were successful in improving the prospects of post-civil war peace, monitoring ceasefires, and avoiding conflict recidivism.
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While Ghani has made ceasefires in the past, this is the first unconditional ceasefire to the Taliban and is supported by 6900,2628 Afghan religious scholars.
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Sudan's government has announced unilateral ceasefires in both regions as well as in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur since 2015 and fighting has subsided.
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"[All sides in the conflict need to] understand that one party can't dominate Syria, and develop enforceable ground rules through deescalation to implement ceasefires," said Tabler.
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While Iran sat at the table talking ceasefires, Mr Assad and its forces were making common cause fighting in the valleys of Wadi Barrada above Damascus.
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"We won't accept any kind of... regional ceasefires," a statement from a number of groups including Jaysh al-Islam, which controls areas east of Damascus, said.
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Syrian rebel group Failaq al-Rahman, which operates in Eastern Ghouta, welcomed the cessation and said ceasefires were a first step to resolving the Syrian conflict.
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He declined to call the agreement a "ceasefire", saying ceasefires could be agreed only by legitimate sides, and not by the Kurds that Turkey considers terrorists.
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It was only after the government released some insurgents, and the communists reciprocated, that the two sides reinstated the ceasefires, allowing the talks to go ahead.
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A pause in the fighting to allow humanitarian relief has been tried repeatedly, but the Houthis and their allies have violated such ceasefires thousands of times.
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While some say the prospects for progress are better than at any point in years, in part because the Taliban has adhered to short-term ceasefires.
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Russia has been mounting air strikes in support of Assad for seven months, but it has also been involved in U.S.-backed diplomatic efforts and supported ceasefires.
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The regime, with Russia's blessing, has broken previous ceasefires and is busy arresting fighters in other parts of the country who had surrendered in return for amnesty.
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At least nine ceasefires have been struck, none lasting longer than a month, including the latest, which was signed on June 30th and has already been violated.
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For the first time, the truce covers the whole country, and not just restricted areas, as was the case with previous ceasefires around the city of Aleppo.
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The ARSA condemned the government for blocking humanitarian assistance in Rakhine and said it was willing to discuss ceasefires with international organizations so aid could be delivered.
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There may well be a chance to deliver this badly needed aid and perhaps to begin securing some local ceasefires between the regime and a divided opposition.
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Later, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing the plan was to first enforce ceasefires in Latakia and eastern Ghouta before expanding it to other areas.
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Internationally brokered attempts to establish ceasefires to allow in United Nations humanitarian aid have failed, although other international and local aid groups have brought in limited supplies.
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During previous escalations over the past few months, the UN and Egypt have often stepped in to put in place short-term ceasefires between Israel and Gaza.
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Egyptian officials, who have frequently brokered ceasefires between Israel and Hamas, have been shuttling between the sides to try to restore calm, a Palestinian official told Reuters.
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Alongside hard-line jihadist group Islamic State, Nusra Front was excluded from ceasefires which the United States and Russia have tried to implement in Syria this year.
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Several ceasefires have unraveled quickly during the seven-year war in Syria, where Assad's military has gained the upper hand with the help of Iran and Russia.
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"We are in touch with the opposition and it is our expectation they will comply," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said of the Latakia and Ghouta ceasefires.
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A tool of warfare What the above pattern reveals is that the Syrian regime and its allies have turned ceasefires from tools of peace into tools of warfare.
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In other words, ceasefires have become another tool through which the regime and Russia appear to be seeking to end the Syrian conflict through military, not political, means.
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The Nusra Front has consistently been excluded from ceasefires in Syria, and the opposition says the government has used this as an excuse to keep up its bombardments.
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The Kremlin has worked closely with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an enemy of Assad, to negotiate ceasefires and bring about a potential diplomatic solution to the conflict.
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President Salva Kiir gave Machar his old job back as deputy leader late on Thursday, raising hopes of a breakthrough after months of troubled negotiations and failed ceasefires.
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Another 700,000-800,000 may be considering a return to their homes in these zones or under local ceasefires that include the evacuation of rebels to Idlib province, he said.
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Despite several agreements and ceasefires, fighting has rumbled on in South Sudan with barely any break since first erupting at the end of 2013, just two years after independence.
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MOSCOW, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained on Monday that Syrian militants had used temporary ceasefires in fighting in and around Aleppo to regroup and rearm.
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Success is not measured by breakthroughs and ceasefires—welcome as those would be in a country as benighted as Syria—but by lowering the chances of a Russian blunder.
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"If we can achieve ceasefires in zones of stabilization in Syria, then I believe - we hope we will have the conditions to begin a useful political process," Tillerson said.
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Ceasefires have come and gone, each side has gained and then lost territory, the violence has worsened and the only thing that has risen has been the death toll.
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Trump expressed optimism that the ceasefire would continue to hold, noting that the days-old ceasefire had already last a "very long period of time" relative to past ceasefires.
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The United Nations has criticized unilateral ceasefires after long sieges, saying they can be helpful only if combined with humanitarian access for those who do not want to leave.
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As monitors have consistently documented, the Syrian government rarely honors ceasefires, and Assad and Russia are operating in charted waters, having already destroyed east Aleppo and besieged other cities.
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Putin and his government have been among the chief supporters of the Assad regime, both militarily and in helping to negotiate ceasefires in the country's long-running civil war.
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Political and armed opposition groups have rejected the proposal, saying Russia has been unwilling or unable to get Assad and his Iranian-backed militia allies to respect past ceasefires.
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If such a deal could be reached, it might open the door to negotiations for a series of local ceasefires, especially around major population centers and critical infrastructure nodes.
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Employing indirect communication lines can therefore prove effective, including forging ceasefires at local levels, detainee releases and engaging intermediaries, such as tribal leaders, who maintain contacts with both sides.
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The exodus of thousands of people from besieged areas began last week, but was suspended several times as ceasefires were violated and warring parties negotiated new terms to the deal.
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The memo argued that neither Assad nor Russia have taken past ceasefires and negotiations seriously and suggested a more robust military approach was needed to force political change in Syria.
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Several previous ceasefires have unraveled quickly in the seven-year war in Syria, where government forces have gained the upper hand with the help of key allies Iran and Russia.
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JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan is close to another famine, aid officials said on Monday, after more than four years of civil war and failed ceasefires in the world's youngest nation.
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The ceasefires around the country are freeing up units of the Syrian army and their affiliated forces, allowing them to be redeployed in a big push against the terror group.
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The Catch-22 of stability, ceasefires, and the Assad question in Syria is that the more peace and quiet that prevail, the more legitimacy and staying power Assad may acquire.
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"The recent history of the Syrian civil war is littered with ceasefires and it would be nice ... one day to have a ceasefire," Fallon said at an event in Washington.
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Russia has instead called for daily five-hour local ceasefires to establish what it calls a humanitarian corridor so aid can enter the enclave and civilians and wounded can leave.
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Putin and his government have been one of the chief supporters of the Assad regime, both militarily and in helping to negotiate ceasefires in the country's long-running civil war.
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Despite several agreements and ceasefires, fighting has rumbled on in South Sudan with barely any break since civil war erupted at the end of 2013, just two years after independence.
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"We are strongly appealing for the ceasefires to be respected and that we have also been appealing for a nationwide ceasefire to come into effect," Pedersen told a news conference.
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Russia and the Syrian government have regularly promised improved behavior in Syria: to stop the use of chemical weapons, to accept ceasefires, to allow humanitarian aid into besieged, starving communities.
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The memo says that neither Assad nor Russia have taken past ceasefires and negotiations seriously and suggests a more robust military approach was needed to force a transitional government in Syria.
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After a series of failed ceasefires, the conflict has mostly devolved into stagnant trench warfare, where Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists often exchange light artillery and sniper fire from a distance.
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Several previous ceasefires have failed to pave the way for an end to the conflict, although they have significantly slowed fighting in a war that has killed at least 10,000 people.
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Ceasefires have been repeatedly violated and last week the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the internationally-backed ceasefire monitoring team both called for sanctions on leaders who instigated violence.
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In the diplomatic dance over ceasefires, humanitarian relief and a political settlement, Russia is now setting the terms, much as America did after intervening in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
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They say the TAK follows the broad direction of the PKK, adhering to its ceasefires and mimicking its targeting, but does not seek approval from the PKK's hierarchy for each attack.
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Despite several agreements and ceasefires, fighting has rumbled on in South Sudan with barely any break since it first erupted in 2013, just two years after independence, killing tens of thousands.
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The ceasefires that the previous government signed with many, but not all, ethnic armies, look hollower by the day—as does Miss Suu Kyi's ability to achieve peace and tame the army.
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Trump's comments came as the US-Russia brokered ceasefire in southwestern Syria entered its fifth day, a hopeful development in a country where numerous ceasefires have been brokered and quickly fallen apart.
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This sad reality points to the third clue revealed by the ceasefires: ISIS in Afghanistan is an enemy of both the Afghan government and the Taliban, as well as the United States.
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So there's an effort to act as if they are observing the ceasefire, which we've seen in all previous cases of ceasefires: Both sides sort of say they're abiding by the ceasefire.
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The group is considered to be a terrorist organization by all major international powers, and has been routinely excluded from ceasefires and truces negotiated between the Syrian regime and other rebel factions.
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After months of ineffective negotiations and failed ceasefires, both sides agreed in January to share positions in a transitional government, and last month Kiir reappointed Machar to his former post as vice president.
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Eastern Ukraine has seen a spike in violence in recent months between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian armed forces as efforts to enforce previous ceasefires in the three-year-old conflict have failed.
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MOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday there would be daily three-hour ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo starting from Thursday to allow humanitarian convoys to enter the city safely.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main ally in the conflict, ordered daily five-hour ceasefires and the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" to allow civilians to leave Eastern Ghouta.
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The Security Council has come under criticism, having failed to find a political solution to Syria's brutal war that has killed at least 400,000 people and to even agree on days-long ceasefires.
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The ceasefire is the latest of at least five ceasefires to have been declared in the six-year war, all of which unraveled — at times because of the lack of an enforcement mechanism.
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Having caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and unleashed a humanitarian crisis, the Arabian Peninsula conflict has continued despite several U.N.-backed ceasefires and peace efforts by Western and U.N. diplomats.
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Ceasefires arranged elsewhere in Syria, under Russian auspices, freed up the Syrian army to advance east -- allowing them to race across 200 kilometers of desert to Deir Ezzor in just a few weeks.
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And in Syria, when ceasefires allow a breathing space, citizens have taken to the streets in rebel-held towns to demand freedom in defiance of both the regime and powerful jihadists-tinged militias.
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The ceasefires, which follow months of deteriorating security, especially in the capital, Kabul, have coincided with the start of the soccer World Cup and the Afghan cricket team's test match debut against India.
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The African Union on Monday said it was open to imposing sanctions on leaders violating ceasefires in South Sudan, joining a chorus of officials who say those prolonging the conflict must be punished.
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Whatever the broader implications of these truces and ceasefires, residents stranded on the wrong side of Syria's front lines can only watch their children go hungry for so long before agreeing to a deal.
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Multiple parties have talked about a peaceful resolution and there have been sporadic efforts to make this happen but -- aside from a handful of isolated, temporary ceasefires -- none have shown signs of taking hold.
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TASHKENT (Reuters) - Uzbekistan said it had invited the government of neighboring Afghanistan and the Taliban to take part in direct peace talks on its territory after both sides announced ceasefires over the Eid holiday.
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Russian-backed regime offensives in northern Syria continued on Thursday as Moscow and Washington bickered over proposed ceasefires, and reports emerged that aid meant for besieged communities may be being diverted by the government.
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Ceasefires arranged elsewhere in Syria, under Russian auspices, freed up the Syrian army to advance east, allowing troops to race across 200 kilometers (124 miles) of desert to Deir Ezzor in a few weeks.
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Political and armed opposition groups in Syria have rejected the proposal, saying Russia has been unwilling or unable to get President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian-backed militia allies to respect past ceasefires.
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President Bashar al-Assad's Russian allies have called for daily, five-hour humanitarian ceasefires, but these have brought little respite to the besieged area that the United Nations says is home to 400,000 people.
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But he said it was difficult to make the ceasefires longer for the moment because of the risk of militants using them to regroup and rearm, something he said they had done in the past.
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After months of ineffective negotiations and failed ceasefires, both sides agreed in January to share positions in a transitional government, and earlier this month Kiir re-appointed Machar to his former post as vice president.
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Tuesday's attack north of Hama revived hostilities in the northwestern area near the Turkish border that has been relatively calm in recent months as Russian-led diplomacy seeks to shore up ceasefires across western Syria.
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Russia said on Wednesday there would be daily three-hour ceasefires in Aleppo starting Thursday to allow humanitarian convoys to enter the city safely, a proposal which the United Nations mediator said was "not enough".
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The previous two Syria ceasefires, brokered by Cold War foes Washington and Moscow, took effect in February and September but both collapsed within weeks as warring sides accused each other of truce violations and fighting intensified.
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The bottom line: It's the need for Russian buy-in that causes ceasefires to pass with these dangerous carve-outs and weak enforcement mechanisms, to further a strategic narrative that it is helping Damascus combat terrorism.
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Previous similar ceasefires have failed to hold for long and it was not clear how much the actual combatants — Assad's government and the main Syrian rebel forces in the southwest — are committed to this latest effort.
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Even before the recent events, regular reports in recent years of localized ceasefires also seem to confirm that, at the ground level of this war, there is an ability to conceive of accommodations to reduce violence.
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Millions of Americans, with Trump as their bully pulpit, lay blame for this at the feet of Barack Obama for his floundering in Syria and his need for Russian support to achieve even much-broken ceasefires.
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The ceasefires do not include the jihadist group Islamic State or the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which was al Qaeda's official affiliate in the war until it formally broke off ties last year.
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The insurgent attack north of Hama revived hostilities in the northwestern region near the Turkish border that has been relatively calm in recent months as Russian-led diplomacy seeks to shore up ceasefires in western Syria.
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - The evacuation of rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from Aleppo has opened new possibilities for ceasefires elsewhere in Syria, Russian news agencies cited a Russian defense ministry official as saying on Saturday.
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Despite ongoing international negotiations and periodic agreements to enact ceasefires and allow the provision of humanitarian aid, Assad's government has slow-rolled or blocked aid deliveries, which often must be made by truck, on contested roads.
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At the beginning of peace talks, FARC rebels proposed a bilateral ceasefire, but Colombian government officials resisted the overture, saying the guerrillas had used previous ceasefires as an opportunity to take over large swaths of the countryside.
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Assad has made a similar offer to the besieged rebels in eastern Aleppo, where the army backed by Russian jets, have been launching an offensive and where they have declared temporary ceasefires to encourage residents to depart.
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The Philippines and the rebels declared indefinite unilateral ceasefires in Oslo last month as part of an accord to accelerate efforts to end a conflict that has lasted almost five decades and killed at least 40,000 people.
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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union said on Monday it is open to imposing sanctions on leaders violating ceasefires in South Sudan, joining a growing chorus of officials who say those prolonging the conflict must be punished.
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"The United States will increase our pressure on ISIS and al Qaeda and will work to establish interim zones of stability, through ceasefires, to allow refugees to return home," he told the meeting at the State Department.
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Because a real peace agreement will be a lot harder to implement than temporary ceasefires, getting fighters to follow through on the latter doesn't definitively prove that they would abide by their leaders' directives on the former.
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Regardless, the visible, even if limited and fragile, manifestation of interest in and possibility of peace that the ceasefires provided should encourage U.S. leaders to test the potential to push for much more than a brief hiatus.
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday there would be daily three-hour ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo starting Thursday to allow humanitarian convoys to enter the city safely, a proposal which the United Nations said it would consider.
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There have been many ceasefires in Syria's past, dating back to 2011, when war first broke out: In 2011, Syria signed an Arab League proposal to stop the fighting between government forces and protestors, but violence continued.
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Assad said there was no contradiction between daily, five-hour humanitarian ceasefires called by his ally Russia, and ongoing combat operations, noting that advances by government forces in the last few days had occurred during the truce.
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Clinton had maybe her best answer of the night here, reminding us of the real topic (looks/sexism) and then moving to her experience of being in 112 countries, negotiating ceasefires and testifying before Congress for 11 hours.
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At Wednesday's meeting, Tillerson said the United States would create "interim zones of stability" through ceasefires to help refugees return home in the next phase of the fight against Islamic State and al Qaeda in Syria and Iraq.
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OSLO (Reuters) - The Philippines government and Maoist-led rebels agreed indefinite ceasefires on Friday as part of an accord to accelerate efforts to end a conflict that has lasted almost five decades and killed at least 40,000 people.
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Russia, a strong ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has called for daily five-hour local ceasefires to establish what it calls a humanitarian corridor so aid can enter the enclave and civilians and wounded can leave.
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Syria's military and Russia's air force halted their bombardment of rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Friday, a monitoring group said, on the second of four consecutive daytime unilateral ceasefires in the city that have been rejected by insurgents.
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In other parts of the country, like Aleppo, the U.S. has opted to pursue diplomatic means to end the fighting, working primarily with President Bashar al-Assad's ally Russia to create ceasefires and humanitarian breaks in the fighting.
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Political and armed opposition groups in Syria rejected the proposal when it was announced last month, saying Russia has been unwilling or unable to get President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian-backed militia allies to respect past ceasefires.
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Kiir has declared ceasefires before and he has yet to release any political prisoners, said Alan Boswell, a South Sudan expert who authored a paper for the Small Arms Survey on the most recent failed peace deal in 2016.
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As well as brokering the ceasefires in three areas of southern Syria, its forces have also secured truces directly with opposition forces in various areas of Syria, including Talbiseh, a key location north of Syria's third largest city, Homs.
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On the opposition side, Russia has already threatened strikes on rebel groups even for debatable violations — but opposition negotiators cannot ignore that past localized ceasefires have meant the besiegement of opposition areas, "kneel or starve" campaigns, and population transfers.
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Lavrov, speaking at a news conference in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said he realised that brief daily ceasefires in place now to allow aid to enter and civilians to leave were not sufficient.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. special envoy to Syria on Monday handed the responsibility of agreeing ceasefires across Syria to major powers, saying his remit was only to hold talks on a U.N. resolution on elections, governance and a new constitution.
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To find out what reasonable expectations are for this deal, and whether it might last any longer than the various ceasefires that preceded it, I got on the phone with Omar Lamrani, an analyst at the military forecasting firm Stratfor.
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Washington has already placed sanctions on South Sudanese military and political figures, and in January imposed an arms embargo to halt the flow of weapons into the country, signaling that it had lost patience with South Sudan's warring factions for ignoring ceasefires.
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The memory of women bowed by the all-enveloping burqa, enforced under Taliban rule, trudging past destroyed homes is also fading amid talk of possible further Taliban ceasefires, upcoming elections, the national cricket team's first "test" match against India - and the World Cup.
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The ISSG task force on ceasefires will convene for the first time in Geneva on Friday, De Mistura said - an opportunity for diplomats from ISSG countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran to say whether they endorse the U.S.-Russian proposal.
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Washington has already placed sanctions on South Sudanese military and political figures, and in January imposed an arms embargo to try to halt the flow of weapons into the country, signaling that it had lost patience with the warring factions for ignoring ceasefires.
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"There was a message ... that when the Geneva talks actually start, in parallel there should be the beginning of a serious discussion about ceasefires," he told reporters after meeting with the Saudi-backed, opposition High Negotiation Committee (HNC) at U.N. headquarters in Geneva.
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Some of the sanctions in question were temporarily lifted in January, allowing Sudan to purchase US goods as long as it continued to show progress on five so-called "tracks," which include maintaining regional ceasefires, enhancing counterterrorism cooperation, and improving humanitarian access.
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Two parallel ceasefires abruptly announced for the end of the holy month of Ramadan brought some respite from the violence, for an eight-day period on the Afghan government's part, and for three days on the part of the Taliban, ending last Sunday.
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The United States said on Friday that it was in discussions with Russia to renew the cessation of hostilities and was seeking a halt to fighting in Latakia and eastern Ghouta as a test case before trying to extend ceasefires throughout the country.
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Previous ceasefires have had a poor record of ending fighting in Syria, where Assad's forces have gained the upper hand with support from Russia, which has a history of standing in the way of Security Council measures that would harm Assad's interests.
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And the fact that they were each announced unilaterally rather than negotiated doesn't put them in the same category as ceasefires that elsewhere have been deliberate, agreed steps in a peace process, used to mutually build confidence in the other side's willingness to pursue peace.
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BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian government forces launched a ground assault on the edge of the rebel-held eastern Ghouta enclave on Wednesday, seeking to gain territory despite a Russian plan for five-hour daily ceasefires, a war monitor and sources on both sides said.
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BENGHAZI, Libya, March 25 (Reuters) - An intense bombardment shook Tripoli through the night and a new battle erupted at an airbase outside the capital, hours after Libya reported its first case of coronavirus and despite U.N. calls for ceasefires around the world during the epidemic.
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"Saudi is pushing hard towards collapsing all forms of calm and ceasefires in Syria," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al Manar television, blaming what he said were Saudi-funded groups for early violations of the wider truce in southern Aleppo province last month.
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After a string of failed ceasefires, both sides finally agreed a deal in September under which the factions are meant to form a unity government by May 12 - though Machar told Reuters this month the deadline would be missed because pre-conditions had not been met.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States would welcome any pause in fighting in Syria to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid, but it must be observed by all parties, the State Department said on Wednesday, commenting on a Russian announcement of daily three-hour ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo.
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"Local ceasefires in areas under siege, where rebels have handed over heavy weapons and the government has in turn relaxed its control over the transfer of goods ... are hard to distinguish from capitulations by rebels," the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Aron Lund wrote in a 2014 piece.
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"The United States will increase our pressure on ISIS and al Qaeda and will work to establish interim zones of stability, through ceasefires, to allow refugees to return home," Tillerson told the gathering at the State Department, where the former oil executive was hosting his first major diplomatic event.
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Although Russia has been the main driver behind the latest ceasefire, saying that its success would pave the way for peace talks in Astana in one month, its and the regime's behavior on the ground has not diverged from the scenarios of previous ceasefires in which they were simply not serious about peace negotiations.
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While it is not yet known whether the fighting in Eastern Ghouta is being pursued by the regime without Russia's agreement or as part of a "good cop, bad cop" Russian-regime tactic, it has become clear from the series of actions on the ground in this and previous ceasefires that Russia and Syrian regime have become hostage to one another.
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With the ceasefires still holding in Texas and Idaho, clean(ish) water restored to almost half of Los Angeles, and—most importantly—Amazon confirming that yes, they will be restarting deliveries to Evac-Bill registered US citizens in most major FEMA Relocation Camps, there's never been a better time to get in the festive spirit with a little retail therapy!
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"Coming from the international principles of humanitarian law and with intention to extend the scales of humanitarian mission in Aleppo, Russian Defense ministry is ready to support de Mistura's proposal about weekly 48 hour humanitarian ceasefires to deliver the city's citizens food, medicine and to restore vital service systems that got broken in rebels' shellfire," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian media.
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