Major world powers have agreed to a ceasefire and to the delivery of immediate aid in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced early Friday.
He spoke in Munich, Germany, where top diplomats met to hammer out a deal.
“I’m pleased to say that as a result today in Munich, we believe we have made progress on both the humanitarian front and the cessation of hostilities front, and these two fronts, this progress, has the potential — fully implemented, fully followed through on — to be able to change the daily lives of the Syrian people.
“First, we have agreed to accelerate and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid beginning immediately,” Kerry said.
“Second, we have agreed to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities to begin in a target of one week’s time. That’s ambitious, but everybody is determined to move as rapidly as possible to try to achieve this.”
The proposed ceasefire would not apply to any terrorist organizations operating in Syria. And Kerry stressed that the longer the conflict persists there, the more extremists have to gain.
Kerry also said that the real test of talks will be whether all the parties involved honor their commitments and implement them in reality. Ending the five-year civil war will require a plan for a political transition, he said.
The Syrian uprising began in March 2011. At least 250,000 people have died and 12 million displaced because of the conflict, according to the United Nations.
“What we have here are words on paper. What we need to see in the next few days are actions on the ground,” Kerry told reporters.