Diplomats Aim for Temporary Syria Truce, Ceasefire in a Week

Diplomats trying to secure a ceasefire for the civil war in Syria fell short in organizing an immediate truce but agreed to try to work out details and implement a temporary “cessation of hostilities” in the coming week.

Secretary of State John Kerry (C), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L), and U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (R) at a news conference after the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 12, 2016. AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

MUNICH—Diplomats trying to secure a ceasefire for the civil war in Syria fell short in organizing an immediate truce but agreed to try to work out details and implement a temporary “cessation of hostilities” in the coming week.

Foreign ministers from the International Syria Support Group also sealed an agreement early Friday to “accelerate and expand” deliveries of humanitarian assistance to seven besieged Syrian communities. Those deliveries are to begin immediately after a working group meets on the matter Friday in Geneva.

Speaking for the group, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the results but noted they were “commitments on paper.”

The real test is whether or not all the parties honor those commitments and implement them.

— John Kerry, secretary of state, U.S.