Following the U.S. airstrike in Syria last month, Russia and Iran issued a joint statement saying further U.S. action in Syria would be answered with retaliatory force. Thursday, Russia, Iran, and Turkey agreed to create four “de-escalation zones” in Syria, creating a temporary cease fire as well as safe areas for civilians to flee areas controlled by ISIS. Russia announced Friday that as part of the agreement, U.S.-led coalition aircraft will be banned from flying over the four de-escalation zones.

Under the plan, all military aircraft, including Russian and Turkish, are prohibited and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s air force would be in charge of ensuring other nations comply with the no-fly zone rules. According to Russian official Alexander Lavrentyev, U.S.-led coalition aircraft as well as aircraft from other nations would be able to engage ISIS in other areas:

Lavrentyev, whose remarks were carried by Russian news agencies, said “the operation of aviation in the de-escalation zones, especially of the forces of the international coalition, is absolutely not envisaged, either with notification or without. This question is closed.”

The new rule is already being supported by the United Nations. In a statement, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the organization “welcomes the commitments to ceasing the use of all weapons, particularly aerial assets.”

The Russian agreement is the latest attempt to curb violence in Syria. A previous cease-fire signed in December 2016 collapsed after several weeks. Opposition to this new agreement protested Iran’s involvement as a guarantor of the deal, for Iran is accused of encouraging sectarian fighting in Syria. </s> Russia, Iran and Turkey have signed a deal calling for safe zones to be established inside Syria so that refugees can return and aid be sent in.

The deal, which has not been signed by rebel groups or the Syrian government, proposes one zone in Idlib province, another in Homs, and a third near Damascus.

In theory, all three sites would be no-fly and no-combat zones, though how these areas would be enforced and by whom remains unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that ways to monitor the zones would be an issue for separate talks.

A member of the rebel delegation stormed out of the talks at one point, denouncing Iran which supports the Syrian government.

Russia also backs Assad's leadership, while Turkey supports several rebel factions.

Idlib, where the first of the zones is to be located, is under rebel control and was the site of the recent gas attack which was blamed by the West on Assad's regime.

Homs is largely under the control of government forces, though there is still fierce fighting with ISIS in the area.

Meanwhile the eastern district of Ghouta, in Damascus, is held by a warring selection of rebel factions.

Wednesday's agreement followed on from the Astana talks in December last year which brokered a largely failed ceasefire.

Kazakhstan's foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said: 'Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities.

'As a result the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.'

The aim is to 'put an immediate end to the violence' and 'provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees' as well as the immediate delivery of relief supplies and medical aid, the document said.

Syrian rebels said earlier Thursday that they had resumed participation in the talks after having suspended their involvement a day earlier over air strikes against civilians.

After talks with Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the safe zones were meant to lead to 'further pacification and cessation of hostilities.'

He also said the proposed zones would also be no-fly areas if fighting on the ground there stopped entirely.

The Kremlin's plan echoes calls by US leader Donald Trump to establish safe zones in Syria.

Putin said Wednesday that 'as far I could tell' the US leader broadly supported the idea in a phone call they held on Tuesday.

Erdogan said in comments published Thursday that Moscow's plan to set up these zones in Syria would '50 per cent' solve the six-year conflict.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's war began with anti-government protests in March 2011. </s> MOSCOW — Russia's representative at the Syria talks says the "de-escalation zones" will be closed to military aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition.

Alexander Lavrentyev's comments Friday come a day after talks in Kazakhstan, where Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish the zones in Syria. Under the Russian plan, President Bashar Assad's air force would halt flights over the designated areas across the war-torn country.

Lavrentyev suggested that all military aircraft, including Russian and Turkish, are prohibited. Full details of Thursday's agreement have not yet been released.

Lavrentyev, whose remarks were carried by Russian news agencies, said U.S.-led coalition aircraft would be able to operate against the Islamic State group in specific areas, but the "de-escalation zones" were now closed to their flights.

The agreement is the latest attempt to reduce violence in the Arab country. </s> The presidents of Russia and Turkey are pushing for the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as talks were expected to resume on Thursday in Kazakhstan between the government and opposition.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope on Wednesday the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to “de-escalate” the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.

“We both proceed on the basis that – and this is our common position – the creation of safe zones should lead to further pacification and cessation of hostilities,” said Putin.

Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground – Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The rebels suspended their participation at the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, on Wednesday in protest of air strikes targeting areas under their control in Syria, demanding a halt to the government’s bombardment.

The Syrian armed opposition will return to the talks on Thursday, RIA news agency quoted a source close to the negotiations as saying. Reuters news agency reported the rebel delegation had not yet arrived at the venue.

 Syria’s Ghouta residents fear it’s time to flee

Russian representatives had presented the rebels with a proposal for four “de-escalation zones” in Syria where the warring sides would be separated by “security lines”.

“About terrorists, in spite of the creation of these zones, the war on terror will be ongoing – against such organisations as so-called Islamic State [ISIL], Jabhat al-Nusra, and those ones that are put on the list of terrorist organisations approved by the United Nations,” Putin said .

Putin said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the ceasefire.

The proposal presented to the rebels in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and rebels would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by rebels.

The four include areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, the eastern Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.

The zones, according to a document received by rebels, would be monitored by international observers and allow for the voluntary return of refugees.

“We won’t admit the emergence on our southern borders of enemy enclaves that would endanger our territorial integrity and security,” Erdogan said.

Late Wednesday, Syria’s foreign ministry said Damascus is “fully backing” the Russian initiative on the four ceasefire areas, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

But Ahmed Ramadan, an opposition representative, told The Associated Press that rebels requested a written answer on a number of questions, including why the ceasefire would only be in effect in the four areas instead of a nationwide truce.

This is the fourth round of talks in Astana since January. Separately, there have been five rounds of UN-sponsored Syria peace talks in Geneva since 2012, but none have led to a sustainable ceasefire.

Later Wednesday, the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, called on the rebels to return to the talks in Astana “because what is important is also to look at the possibility of an outcome on a de-escalation”. He stressed the importance of not destroying “the opportunity of good news” related to this issue.

 Syria: Under Russia’s fist – People and Power </s> A pact reached by Russia, Iran and Turkey to create de-escalation zones came into force in Syria at midnight local time (21:00GMT) on Saturday, in a bid to shore up ceasefire and allow for a safe return of refugees.

The four zones span the northwestern Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, the north of the central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as southern Daraa and Quneitra regions.

The Syrian government has agreed to stop fighting in the designated areas, although some armed opposition members walked out of Astana talks in protest at the agreement.

The deputy chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov said later the UN’s special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura had convinced Syrian opposition forces of the importance of safe zones. </s> Turkey and Russia push for safe-zones in Syria – Al Jazeera

The presidents of Russia and Turkey are pushing for the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as talks were expected to resume on Thursday in Kazakhstan between the government and the opposition.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope on Wednesday that the Syrian government and the opposition would adopt this latest proposal to “de-escalate” the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.

“We both proceed on the basis that – and this is our common position – the creation of safe zones should lead to further pacification and cessation of hostilities,” said Putin.

Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground – Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The opposition suspended its participation at the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, on Wednesday in protest of air attacks that hit areas under their control in Syria, demanding a halt to the government’s bombardment.

The Syrian armed opposition will return to the talks on Thursday, RIA news agency quoted a source close to the negotiations as saying. Reuters news agency reported the opposition delegation had not yet arrived at the venue.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Astana, said it wasn’t 100 percent certain that the rebels would return.

“The opposition themselves haven’t committed to their attendance. They’re currently behind closed doors in their own meetings trying to figure out exactly what their stance is. The true test will be at around 10GMT [4pm local time] when there is meant to be a very important session that would have all the different parties involved – if the opposition isn’t boycotting this,” Elshayyal said.

Russian representatives had presented the rebels with a proposal for four “de-escalation zones” in Syria where the warring sides would be separated by “security lines”.

“About terrorists, in spite of the creation of these zones, the war on terror will be ongoing – against such organisations as so-called Islamic State [ISIL], Jabhat al-Nusra, and those ones that are put on the list of terrorist organisations approved by the United Nations,” Putin said.

Putin also said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the ceasefire.

The proposal presented to the opposition in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and opposition forces would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by the opposition.

The four zones include areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, the Eastern Ghouta suburb outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.

The zones, according to the proposal, would be monitored by international observers and allow for the voluntary return of refugees.

We won’t admit the emergence on our southern borders of enemy enclaves that would endanger our territorial integrity and security,” Erdogan said.

Late Wednesday, Syria’s foreign ministry said Damascus is “fully backing” the Russian initiative on the four ceasefire areas, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

But Ahmed Ramadan, an opposition representative, told The Associated Press that the opposition had requested a written answer on a number of questions, including why the ceasefire would only be in effect in the four areas instead of a nationwide truce.

This is the fourth round of talks in Astana since January. Separately, there have been five rounds of UN-sponsored Syria peace talks in Geneva since 2012, but none have led to a sustainable ceasefire.

Later on Wednesday, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, called on the opposition to return to the talks in Astana “because what is important is also to look at the possibility of an outcome on a de-escalation”. He stressed the importance of not destroying “the opportunity of good news” related to this issue.(Al Jazeera) </s> Russia says it will be a month before 'de-escalation zones' are fully established, as Syrian opposition voices concern.

An agreement to set up "de-escalation zones" in Syria came into effect at midnight on Friday, but it will be at least another month before all the details are worked out and the safe areas are fully established, according to Russian officials.

The plan was agreed by Russia, Turkey, and Iran during Syria talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, on Thursday, but sharply criticised by the Syrian opposition which rejected Iran's role as guarantor in any deal.

It envisions establishing four safe zones that would bring relief for hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians and encourage refugees to return, Russian military officials said on Friday.

There were limited reports of bombing in northern Homs and Hama, two areas expected to be part of the "de-escalation zones," after midnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are to enforce the zones, but Russian general staff official Sergei Rudskoi said that other countries could participate. He did not elaborate on which those countries might be.

The plan, which has not been published, calls for all aircraft to be banned from flying over the safe zones.

Syrian, Russian, Turkish and US-led coalition aircraft operate in overlapping areas across Syrian airspace.

According to media reports, the plan allows for Russia, Turkey and Iran to continue fighting ISIL, as well as al-Qaeda-affiliated groups inside the safe zones.

Previous ceasefires have collapsed as Russian and Syrian jets continued to hit civilians under the premise of targetting hardline rebels.

Syria's government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting "terrorism" wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.

Reacting to the announcement that the "de-escalation zones" will be closed to military aircraft from the US-led coalition, Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said the US military has "not changed or altered our mission in any way".

"These de-escalation zones, as I have seen them on the map, are in western Syria and not in areas where ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] is active," he said. "Our operations are focused on ISIS, which are farther east."

The latest round of Syrian peace talks in Astana was sponsored by opposition supporter Turkey and Syrian government backers Russia and Iran.

Yet, the de-escalation zones agreement was not signed by the Syrian government, nor the opposition.

Representatives of several rebel groups in Astana said they could not accept Iran as a guarantor of the deal.

The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, criticised the plan as vague and illegitimate.

The Riyadh-based HNC, which includes political and armed groups, cautioned against attempts to "partition the country through vague meanings of what has been called ... 'de-escalation' zones," in a statement on Friday.

Mohammed Rasheed, a spokesman for the Jaish al-Nasr rebel group, said Russia was "merely playing political games" and "making declarations".

He said rebels doubted Russian or Syrian government warplanes would stop striking rebel-held areas after the deal takes effect.

"This is not the first time," he added, referring to several mediated ceasefires that have unravelled in Syria's multi-sided conflict.

Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said that the agreement is a step forward, "but there are so many spoilers in this".

Doyle said there are huge question marks over the commitment of various actors to reducing violence and over how the plan will be enforced. He said confidence measures and further agreements will be needed to back up the agreement.

"If you are going to make these areas in any way safe on the ground, you're going to need a significant military deployment and you're probably going to need third parties who will have the trust of all sides," said Doyle.

"We're nowhere near that sort of situation at the moment because nobody has been able to demonstrate that the violence is going to be able to recede to the sort of levels that are necessary."

"The United Nations, the United States and Saudi Arabia have welcomed the deal," Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said in comments carried by state news agency TASS.

The US state department said that it supports "any effort" that can genuinely move towards peace but voiced scepticism about the new agreement's ability to create safe zones.

With the airspace closed over these so-called safe areas, they would become de facto no-fly zones. Calls for such a measure have been made numerous times by opposition members, but it has never been imposed until now.

Previous regions considered for no-fly zones were the border areas with Jordan and Turkey.

Syria's civil war, currently in its seventh year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and has drawn in world powers on all sides.

The negotiations in Astana are viewed as complementary to broader United Nations-brokered talks in Geneva on a political settlement, but neither have yielded real progress as of yet. </s> ASTANA
• Syrian regime allies Russia and Iran, and rebel supporter Turkey, yesterday signed a memorandum on a Moscow-backed plan to create safe zones in Syria to bolster a fragile truce.

However, a member of the rebel delegation left the room where the peace talks were being held in the Kazakh capital Astana, shouting against Iran.

The Syrian government and rebel delegations are not signatories.

The Kremlin has been touting a plan to create safe zones in Syria that are aimed at "further pacification and cessation of hostilities".

"Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities," Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said of a frail truce brokered by Moscow and Ankara in December.

Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities. As a result, the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria. KAZAKH FOREIGN MINISTER KAIRAT ABDRAKHMANOV, on a frail truce brokered by Moscow and Ankara in December.

"As a result, the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria."

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said the agreement to create safe zones will cover all of Idlib province, as well as parts of Aleppo, Latakia and Homs. It said the deal would ban all use of weapons in those areas.

The aim is to "put an immediate end to the violence" and "provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees", as well as the immediate delivery of relief supplies and medical aid, said a copy of the draft document that was seen by Agence France-Presse.

But issues, including which countries could police any safe zones, remain unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that ways to monitor the zones would be an issue for separate talks.

Syrian rebels said earlier yesterday that they had resumed participation in the talks after having suspended their involvement a day earlier over air strikes against civilians.

After talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Mr Putin said the safe zones were meant to lead to "further pacification and cessation of hostilities". He also said the proposed zones would be no-fly areas if fighting on the ground there stopped entirely.

The Kremlin's plan echoes calls by United States President Donald Trump to establish safe zones in Syria.

Mr Putin said on Wednesday that "as far as I could tell", the US leader broadly supported the idea in a phone call they held on Tuesday.

Mr Erdogan said in comments published yesterday that Moscow's plan to set up these zones in Syria would "50 per cent" solve the six-year conflict.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Mr Abdrakhmanov said the next Syria peace talks would be held in Astana in mid-July. </s> , Moscow, Russian Federation, Sep 18 – A Russian military jet carrying 14 servicemen vanished from radar over the Mediterranean Sea late Monday as Syria came under attack by Israeli missiles, the defence ministry said.

“Connection has been lost with the crew of a Russian Il-20 plane over the Mediterranean Sea 35 kilometres from the Syrian coast as it was returning to the Hmeimim airbase,” the Russian defence ministry said early Tuesday.

The fate of the military personnel is “unknown,” the ministry said in a statement which was carried by Russian news agencies. A search for the plane was underway.

A search-and-rescue source told the Interfax news agency that the Russian warplane could have sunk in the Mediterranean Sea as a result of an “unforeseen critical incident” in the air.

The ministry said that the jet had gone off the radar around 11pm Monday (2000 GMT) during an attack by four Israeli F-16 jets over Syrian infrastructure in the province of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad.

RIA Novosti news agency, citing a security source, said that Syrian anti-defence systems had countered a rocket attack.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government.

An Israeli military spokeswoman when asked about both the reported Israeli strike and the Russian plane said: “We don’t comment on foreign reports.”

A Pentagon spokesman said the United States was not involved and declined to provide further details.

“The missiles were not fired by the US military and we have nothing further at this time,” he said.

The Russian defence ministry also said that rockets had been launched from the French Navy’s frigate, The Auvergne, which was in the area at the time.

“The French army denies any involvement in this attack,” a French army spokesman said.

The jet vanished from radar just hours after Russia said there would be no assault against Syria’s Idlib as the presidents of Russia and Turkey agreed to create a “demilitarised zone” in the rebel-held province.

After more than four hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at his residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said their two countries would “prevent a humanitarian tragedy.”

Putin said the two leaders agreed to create a 15-20 kilometre-wide demilitarised zone along the line of contact between rebels and regime troops by October 15.

This would entail a “withdrawal of all radical fighters” from Idlib including the Al-Nusra Front and also the withdrawal of heavy weaponry including tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, Putin said.

Russia-backed forces of the Syrian regime have massed around Idlib province in recent weeks, sparking fears of an imminent air and ground attack to retake the last major opposition bastion.

Russia intervened in the Syrian conflict to buttress the Assad regime in 2015.

Russia has previously lost aircraft during its Syria campaign.

In November 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, triggering a severe crisis in ties with Moscow.
Russia, Iran and Turkey reach an agreement, effective this midnight, to establish four "safe zones" in Syria over which all military aircraft, including Turkish, Russian, and American aircraft, will be barred from flying.