BEIRUT - Syria's opposition on Saturday said it had agreed to the "possibility" of a temporary truce, provided there were guarantees Damascus's allies including Russia would cease fire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries allowed country-wide.
Russian air strikes began last September and turned the tide in Syria's five-year civil war in Bashar al-Assad's favor, to the frustration of the United States and its allies who have supported rebels trying to topple the president.
Attempts to negotiate a truce in recent months have failed. The latest round of talks at the United Nations in Geneva is being jointly chaired by Russia and the United States.
On Saturday, various Syrian opposition factions "expressed agreement on the possibility of reaching a temporary truce deal, to be reached through international mediation," a statement from the High Negotiations Committee said.
A halt to Russian bombardments did not look immediately likely.
The spokesman for Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said: "Russia is sticking to its consistent policy of rendering assistance and aid to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists and against terrorist organizations."
The High Negotiations Committee, which joins various armed groups and Syria's exiled political opposition, said the U.N. must guarantee "holding Russia and Iran and sectarian militias ... to a halt to fighting". All sides should cease fire simultaneously and the government should release prisoners, it added.(Reuters)