China Hopes for Syrian Conflict Sides to Uphold UN-Backed Ceasefire

Beijing called on the sides to the Syrian war to exercise restraint instead of accusing each other of violating ceasefire.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — China hopes that the sides of the Syrian conflict will uphold the latest ceasefire and implement the UN Security Council resolution to resume peace talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Thursday.

"We hope that both Syrian authorities and opposition forces, as well as all other sides, will value the agreement that was reached with great difficulty and will apply joint efforts at implementing the agreement in practice," Geng told reporters during a briefing.

The sides should exercise restraint instead of accusing each other of violating the ceasefire, the spokesman stressed, noting that China is continuing to work with all sides to reach a settlement for the crisis.

"We hope that the sides in Syria will act in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution and upheld their commitments in order to resume peace talks as soon as possible," Geng said.

In late December, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a Russian-Turkish resolution on a ceasefire regime in Syria, as well as on holding political talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups in Astana, Kazakhstan in January 2017. A day earlier, a nationwide ceasefire between Syrian government troops and several opposition factions came into force. Russia and Turkey serve as guarantors of the deal that paves the way for negotiations between the warring parties.

On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Astana talks could take place in late January if the ceasefire was upheld.

Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.

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