Syria Cease-Fire Deal Leaves Much to be Decided

Neither the Syrian regime nor its opponents have given their formal approval.

A deal announced by global powers to work toward a cease-fire in Syria was met with skepticism and defiance by the warring sides as well as confusion over what areas it would cover and how quickly aid would be delivered in the meantime.

The plethora of details yet to be worked out, and the limited success of previous truces in Syria, tempered hopes for a breakthrough to end the five-year conflict. It wasn’t clear even if the deal covered Syria’s biggest city of Aleppo, around which a regime offensive has created tens of thousands of new refugees.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the agreement reached early Friday is “self-policing,” and while the U.S. hopes it will take effect in a week, it is unclear if world powers will be able to get the parties to enforce it.

“When, and if, in a week’s time we get to that cessation of hostilities…we will know who is a party to that, who’s on the side of the terror and who isn’t,” Mr. Toner said. “If we can get there in a week, that would be I think a significant accomplishment.”

Neither Syrian President Bashar al-Assad nor the opposition has formally approved the deal, which was hammered out in Munich by countries supporting either side, including the U.S., Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

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