HAMBURG, Germany — The United States and Russia struck an agreement Friday on a cease-fire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish “de-escalation zones” in Syria with reduced bloodshed. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones. Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the US and Russia since Trump took office.

Source: Egypt Independent July 08, 2017 09:11 UTC