The U.S. military Tuesday said it supported a plan to establish a demilitarized zone in northern Syria that would separate rebels in their last stronghold from advancing government forces.
The agreement to create a buffer zone was worked out Monday in a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held in Sochi, Russia.
The United States was not a party to the talks, and won’t be involved in the implementation of the DMZ next month, which calls for the 115-mile long strip to be patrolled by Turkish and Russian forces.
“I’ll tell you what, if this holds up and it can save lives and avoid the humanitarian disaster that it could have been, then we’re definitely supporting that,” said Col. Sean Ryan, a military spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad. “But that’s definitely a decision between Russia and Turkey, and the coalition was not involved with that.”
Russia’s defense minister said that under the agreement, Syria would refrain from launching an offensive on Idlib Province, the last major rebel stronghold.
“What we want is a political solution that will save lives, is what we’re really looking at,” Ryan said at a video briefing for reporters at the Pentagon.
An estimated 3 million civilians and 30,000 opposition fighters are essentially trapped in Idlib province, the last significant piece of territory not under control of Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s forces.
