UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – On February 22, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria. According to the Moscow and Washington’s joint statement, the ceasefire takes effect on February 27 and excludes the terrorist groups Islamic State (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra), outlawed in Russia.
On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the Russia-US agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria, demanding that all parties strictly comply with the agreement.
"This document [US-Russia agreement on Syria ceasefire], the resolution that’s been adopted of which Russia was a co-sponsor must be strictly implemented and without any preconditions. The process of implementation itself must be monitored," Gatilov told the Security Council on Friday after the adoption of Resolution 2268.
The minister stressed that intra-Syrian negotiations must be resumed immediately, but pointed out that the ceasefire does not guarantee peace in Syria.
He added that it is necessary to cut off all the channels of the terrorist groups’ financing.
"A barrier must be installed on the Syrian border against illegal flows on which the criminal capital is built and thrives upon," Gatilov stressed.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting against numerous opposition factions and extremist groups, such as ISIL, also known as Daesh.
Talks between the Syrian government and representatives of the country's opposition factions began in Geneva on January 29. On February 3, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura decided to postpone the talks as the parties were unable to reach a compromise on a number of issues.
De Misturasaid in a briefing before the Friday vote on the UN Security Council resolution on the Syria ceasefire that he intends to reconvene the intra-Syrian talks on Monday, March 7.
