Boris Johnson backs US-Russia deal to fight Isis in Syria

Welcome agreement: Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has welcomed the deal between Russia and the US
Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Fiona Simpson10 September 2016
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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has welcomed a US-Russia deal aimed at addressing the crisis in Syria.

The breakthrough agreement, following talks in Geneva, will see a nationwide ceasefire starting on Monday.

The ceasefire will be followed a week later by an unexpected new military partnership between the US and Russia to target Isis and al Qaida militants.

The plan would also establish new limits on president Bashar Assad's forces and enable humanitarian supplies to reach the besieged city Aleppo.

The deal was thrashed out by US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and it is hoped the plan could reduce violence in Syria and ultimately end more than five years of bloody civil war.

The Foreign Secretary said: "I welcome the agreement that the US and Russia have reached to restore the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access in Syria.

“I pay tribute to the tireless work of secretary Kerry in bringing us to this point.

"For years we have seen the indiscriminate targeting by the Assad regime of civilians and moderate groups, and heard only broken promises leading to sieges and starvation.”

London's former mayor urged “all parties” involved in the conflict to “do what is needed to end violence”.

He added: "It is only through a political transition that Syria will rid itself of the twin scourges of Assad and terrorism, and give the country and its people the chance of a peaceful future.

"The Syrian opposition high negotiations committee set out in London this week a clear and detailed plan for securing that transition; the Assad regime must now respond with convincing ideas of its own, not bombing, shelling and sieges."

The US and Russia will share intelligence and co-ordinate targeting for strikes against Isis and the al Qaida-linked Nusra Front, now known as Fath al-Sham.

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