The United States and Russia have come to an agreement that could see the two countries uniting against Islamic terrorist groups in Syria.
{mosads}Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov announced the deal in Geneva after weeks of negotiations, the New York Times reported Friday night.
It is set to go into effect Monday, the Times reported, starting with a week-long reduction of violence and humanitarian access to the most ravaged cities, including Aleppo.
If the arrangement holds, the two countries will set up a joint center to share data and will begin to bomb the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
A main point of the agreement is that Russia is supposed to rein in Syrian President Bashar Assad, preventing Syrian government forces from conducting any operations against rebel groups.
In exchange, the U.S. will work to get the rebel groups it has backed to distance themselves from Nusra.
“We believe the plan, if implemented, if followed, has the ability to provide a turning point, a change,” Kerry said.
The Guardian reported that Kerry said the agreement is not based on trust, but on “oversight, compliance, mutual interest.”
Efforts to create a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn Syria have failed to take hold.
President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “blunt” 90-minute conversation Monday to talk ceasefire efforts.