Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday defended the Syria cease-fire he finalized with Russia late last week, even though the truce was reportedly violated by Syrian President Bashar Assad in its very first hour of operation, by indicating that the U.S. would be happy with “reduced violence” instead of the total cessation of violence.

“There will undoubtedly be reports of a violation here and there, I’m confident, but that is the nature of a beginning of a cease-fire, almost always,” Kerry told reporters at the State Department.