Russia declared on Friday that it would observe a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine beginning at noon and lasting for 36 hours. Ukrainian, American, and European officials derided the announcement as a trick and artillery fire reportedly continued on the Ukrainian battlefield.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on Saturday that the Biden administration secretly sent a team of diplomats to the Tigray region of Ethiopia last month in an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a halt to a devastating civil war that threatens to destabilize the entire Horn of Africa.
The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen held a massive military parade in the strategic port city of Hodeidah on Thursday – a display the United Nations found most unseemly, especially since the U.N.-brokered peace plan for Yemen is named after Hodeidah, and the plan specifically calls for the city to be kept free of “military manifestations.”
The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), an Ethiopian insurgent militant group, claimed on Thursday that Ethiopian federal forces and allied Eritrean troops launched a “massive four-pronged offensive” against the northwestern part of the Tigray region.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday issued a statement that he will respond to a ceasefire “gesture of goodwill” from the Taliban by expediting the release of 2,000 Taliban prisoners.
Taliban militants attacked an Afghan military base in the northern Kunduz province on Sunday despite reports during the week that a ceasefire deal between the Taliban and U.S. is under negotiation.
The village of Jinwar in northeastern Syria, an unusual community consisting entirely of women and children, was reportedly evacuated on Monday as Turkish forces continued to advance despite a cease-fire agreement.
Tuesday brought the end of the cease-fire that halted Turkey’s invasion of Syria to drive Kurdish military forces away from the border. Despite some ominous rumblings from other Turkish officials, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pronounced the Kurdish withdrawal satisfactory and declared victory.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Monday that clashes with Turkish-backed Syrian militia groups continue despite the SDF withdrawing from the border region as demanded in the security agreement between Turkey and Syria’s patrons in Russia.
General Mazloum Abdi, the pre-eminent military leader of the Syrian Kurds, thanked President Donald Trump on Wednesday for his efforts in stopping a Turkish offensive and negotiating a cease-fire.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported on Friday morning that Turkish forces violated the five-day ceasefire agreement announced on Thursday afternoon almost immediately, as Turkish-allied ground forces continued to attack the town of Ras al-Ain with Turkish air and artillery support.
Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday in Ankara, Turkey, that the U.S. and Turkey had agreed to an immediate cease-fire in Syria that would allow Kurdish forces to withdraw from the border.
Officials in Ukraine on Friday reported 41 attacks by Russia-backed separatists against Ukrainian army positions in the war-torn Donbas region have occurred since midnight on Thursday despite a cease-fire agreement. One of the attacks fatally wounded a Ukrainian soldier.
UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Saturday demanding a 30-day cease-fire across Syria “without delay” to deliver humanitarian aid to millions and evacuate the critically ill and wounded.
Breitbart Jerusalem has obtained a list of conditions purportedly drafted by the Islamic State in response to a ceasefire offer from Syrian opposition elements, meant to include IS on one side, and Turkey, the Kurdish PKK and even the U.S. military on the other.
TEL AVIV – Israel may intervene in Syria in order to prevent Iran or Hezbollah from establishing permanent bases there, former National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror said on Monday.
Paradoxically, the ceasefire in Syria will not fail to prevent a future war with Iran, and may make such a conflict even more likely.
On Friday, as President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. State Department confirmed the two sides had reached a ceasefire agreement in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it, “the first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria.”
Russia, Iran, and Turkey are proposing a plan for refugee “safe zones” in Syria that would be no-fly zones for all military aircraft, including those of the United States.
In an interview with China’s Phoenix TV transcribed by Syria’s SANA News, President Bashar Assad complained about foreign “invaders” operating on Syrian soil without his permission and said that while he hopes for cooperation with the new U.S. administration, he has not communicated with President Donald Trump yet.
Russia and Turkey are hailing the Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan as a rousing success.
The Syrian peace talks brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran have begun in Kazakhstan. The United States does not have a delegation at the talks, although the Kazakh government did send an invitation, with the support of Russia and Turkey (but most definitely not Iran).
The post-Obama power axis in the Middle East continues taking shape. On Tuesday, President Obama’s respected negotiating partners in Tehran declared the U.S. would not be welcome at Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan next week.
The evacuation of civilians from Aleppo has halted again, only a day after it restarted. Both the Syrian government and rebel forces are accusing each other of firing on civilian convoys.
Russia and the Syrian government announced a ceasefire in the besieged city of Aleppo on Tuesday, brokered with Turkish involvement.
On Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan, called the siege and bombing of Aleppo by Russian and Syrian forces “crimes of historic proportions,” described the besieged city as a “slaughterhouse,” and called for prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
The “humanitarian bombing pause” declared by Russia and Syria in the besieged city of Aleppo has gone into effect, but as ABC News delicately puts it, “doubts have already been raised about the credibility of the brief pause.”
Russia’s U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin gave the U.N. Security Council a draft statement on Tuesday, calling on nations with ties to the legitimate Syrian opposition to make a greater effort to weed out “terrorists.”
A senior U.S. official told Voice of America News that Russian aircraft have “dropped bombs on rebels battling Islamic State in southern Syria, including those supported by the United States.”
Despite the much-touted “cessation of hostilities” agreement in Syria, which was supposed to halt attacks from all parties except ISIS and al-Qaeda, furious battles between rebels and Syrian government forces continue to inflict heavy casualties in the strategically vital city of Aleppo.
Syria’s Prime Minister is discussing a joint operation with Russia against rebel forces in Aleppo, a region with no significant Islamic State presence.
Russia has warned it may take unilateral action against violations of the cease-fire agreement in Syria, accusing the United States of failing to develop plans to enforce the agreement and punish violations.
On Friday, the United States, Russia, and other world powers announced a “cessation of hostilities” to begin next week in Syria, even as Syrian dictator Bashar Assad vowed to continue “fighting terrorism” and “retake” the entire country.
One hundred and one years ago, the Christmas Truce of 1914 was a spontaneous cease-fire and a day of Christian brotherhood for both sides of the No Man’s Land along the Western Front. The event was kept secret by senior military officers and government censors as an embarrassing breakdown in military discipline.
The much-touted seven-day cease fire in Yemen began on Tuesday afternoon and lasted maybe an hour, before there were reports of both Saudi warplanes dropping bombs on Houthi insurgents, and the Houthis shelling a loyalist stronghold. Naturally, each side blames the other for breaking the agreement.
