The southwest Syria ceasefire brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan is holding and displaced residents are starting to return to the area, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a briefing on Thursday.
Nauert said the United States had started making deliveries of vitally needed supplies and was working with international partners to assess ongoing emergency humanitarian needs, Sputnik reported.
“That ceasefire, to my understanding, is still holding. We are pleased with that. That provides the United States and the coalition partners with the opportunity to start to get some humanitarian aid so badly needed in that area,” Nauert told reporters. “People are slowly starting to come back to parts of those areas, which we consider to be a moderate success.”
She added that although US relations with Russia are at a “low,” Washington wants to find areas of mutual cooperation where the two countries could work together. “And this is one area,” Nauert said.
The United States, Russia and Jordan reached the “de-escalation agreement,” which appeared to give Trump a diplomatic achievement at his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany in July.
The ceasefire in southwestern Syria entered into force on July 9.
The multi-sided Syrian conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and created the world’s worst refugee crisis.
