EU countries on Friday gave a cautious welcome to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire in Syria.
Foreign ministers from the 27 EU states are meeting for talks in Zagreb on the crisis in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
A ceasefire came into force at midnight aiming to halt intense fighting between the Syrian Army and Turkish-backed terrorists– and it appears to be holding.
“For sure I am pleased for the ceasefire, the ceasefire is good news. At least it’s goodwill — let’s see how it works,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said as he arrived for talks.
“It is important now to concentrate on humanitarian aid and I would welcome if Russia would respect the concept of humanitarian aid corridors to be widened,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said.
Ireland’s Simon Coveney said there was “relief” among EU countries at news of the ceasefire.
“But there’s still an extraordinary humanitarian challenge that I think we all face in terms of the sheer numbers of refugees that had been displaced because of the conflict there,” Coveney added.
Some EU countries, notably the Netherlands, have called for a no-fly zone over Idlib.
“EU countries are willing to provide humanitarian aid to Idlib. The challenge is to get aid into the area and that’s where the ceasefire might help. A no-fly zone might help even more,” Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said.
Source: AFP
