Syrian regime 'agrees cease-fire in Eastern Ghouta'

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA

The Bashar al-Assad regime on Tuesday agreed to a Russian-proposed cease-fire in Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, a senior UN envoy said on Tuesday.

Speaking in Geneva at an eighth round of Syria peace talks, Staffan de Mistura said: "l was just informed by the Russians today at a P5 [UN Security Council permanent members] meeting.

“The Russians have proposed and the government has accepted a cease-fire in Eastern Ghouta."

"Now we need to see whether this takes place but it is not coincidental that this was actually proposed and agreed upon just the day of the beginning of this [talks] session," the diplomat added.

On Monday, Russia proposed imposing a cease-fire in the de-escalation zone in Eastern Ghouta on November 28-29.

The cease-fire move comes after more than a dozen people were killed on Monday by regime air and artillery attacks, Anadolu Agency correspondents reported from Damascus.

These latest Syria peace talks involve a united opposition delegation; an Assad regime team is expected to join the discussions on Wednesday.

Syria’s opposition also called for direct negotiations in Geneva with representatives of the Assad government.