UN Refugee Agency Hopes to Reach Besieged Syrian Areas During Ceasefire

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) hopes that the US-Russian plan on ceasefire in Syria will set conditions for a sustained humanitarian access to the besieged areas in the country, Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements stressed that UNHCR has been attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged areas in Syria for a long time, however, due to intense fighting the agency was unable to reach all of them.

"We hope that this plan will improve the situation in Syria," Clements told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"The situation in Syria is quite dire <…> We have been trying since very long time to get to the besieged areas. Hopefully, this will mean that we can actually get in and not just to deliver the [humanitarian] convoy and leave again, but to be able to have a sustained access," he said.

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced an agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and the armed opposition factions had been reached. The agreement will come into force on February 27.

The deal between Russia and the US was approved by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). During its meeting on February 12, the ISSG agreed a final communique calling for swift humanitarian access to all besieged areas in Syria, and set a one-week deadline for measures to be implemented toward the cessation of hostilities in the country.