MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Putin also expressed satisfaction with the start of normalization of Russian-Turkish relations implying revival of the whole complex of cooperation in political, economic, humanitarian, scientific and other spheres.

"The Russian head of state expressed confidence that basing on the achieved results the countries will continue productive joint work on boosting bilateral ties, actively cooperate in solving urgent issues on the regional and international agenda in the interests of the two countries and in line with ensuring security and stability on the Eurasian continent," the statement said.

Russian-Turkish relations have deteriorated following the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber over Syria by the Turkish Air Force. At the beginning of 2016, Russia imposed a number of restrictive measures, including a ban on charter flights, food and flowers imports.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Syrian government and armed opposition groups reached an agreement on a ceasefire on Syrian territory, taking effect at 00:00 on Friday. Russia and Turkey took the role of the ceasefire guarantors, but other countries may also be invited, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.</s>France has called on Russia to stop military action in Syria and respect a fragile ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow and Turkey to end almost six years of war.

The truce deal, which was welcomed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council, has been repeatedly violated since it began, with warring sides trading the blame.

On Saturday, Syria rebels warned they would abandon the ceasefire if government forces continued to violate it, asking the Russians, who support President Bashar al-Assad, to rein in army and militia attacks in the valley by 8 pm.

French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: "We resolutely condemn everything Russia could do in Syria that would contribute to a continuation of fighting.

"We hope talks between separate Syrian forces will continue so the ceasefire can hold. We ask the Russians to stop taking part in military operations which are deadly operations."

However he did not specify which actions in particular he was referring to.</s>MOSCOW. – Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Russia “reserves the right” to retaliate for the US expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats but that Moscow did not plan on expelling US envoys in return.

Putin said Russia would respond to the new US sanctions but would first consider the policies of President-elect Donald Trump.

“Reserving the right to retaliatory measures, we. . .will be planning our next steps in restoring the US-Russian relations based on the policies pursued by the administration of President Donald Trump,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.

But he denied media reports that Russia was planning to expel US diplomats.

“We will not expel anyone,” Putin said in a statement on the Kremlin’s website.

He dismissed the new US sanctions announced on Thursday as a “provocation aimed at further undermining Russian-American relations”.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier yesterday that he had suggested that Russia expel 35 US envoys in return for the US measures. He also said that allegations that Russia had interfered in the November US election were baseless.

US President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and intelligence officers and imposed sanctions on two intelligence agencies, marking a new post-Cold War low in US-Russia ties.

The moves came in response to US intelligence reports that Russia hacked officials from the Democratic National Committee and leaked their emails in the weeks before the November 8 election. They add to existing US sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

The punitive measures announced by Obama were the strongest his administration has taken to date in response to the alleged Russian cyber-attacks targeting US officials, and are more comprehensive than last year’s sanctions on North Korea after it hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment.

“All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions. Such activities have consequences,” said Obama, who is holidaying in Hawaii. He added that Washington could take further, covert action – a thinly veiled reference to a counterstrike in cyberspace that the US has reportedly been considering.

US relations with Russia have suffered during Obama’s years in office as he and Putin clashed over Ukraine, whistleblower Edward Snowden and Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

It is unlikely the new sanctions, while symbolically significant, would have a major impact on Russian spy operations.

The sanctions freeze any US assets held by the 35 Russians and block Americans from doing business with them.

But Russian law bars the spy agencies from maintaining assets in the United States, and any activities they undertake would likely be covert and hard to identify.

Indeed, senior Obama administration officials said that even with the penalties, they had reason to believe Russia would keep launching cyber-attacks with the aim of influencing other nations’ elections and might well try again during US polls in 2018 or 2020.

Though the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint report on “Russian malicious cyber activity” – replete with examples of malware code used by the Russians – it still has not released a broader report that Obama has promised that would detail Russia’s efforts to interfere with US elections.

The report has been eagerly anticipated by those hoping to make it politically untenable for President-elect Donald Trump to continue dismissing allegations that Russia was involved in hacking Democratic officials.

Indeed, Obama’s sanctions pile the pressure on Trump, who has so far brushed off the allegations that Russian hacking helped him win the presidential election.

Trump will have to decide whether to roll back the measures once in office. But US officials suggest that building up their case against Russia now could make it harder for Trump to justify easing the restrictions later.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s retaliation would take into account the fact that Trump will soon replace Obama as it drafts counter-measures.

Trump’s position has also put him at odds with the Republican-controlled Congress.

US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said Russia “has consistently sought to undermine” US interests and called the sanctions overdue.

Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham on Thursday said they intended to lead effort in Congress to “impose stronger sanctions on Russia”.

But in a sign that Trump was no longer able to ignore the allegations, he said he planned to meet with US intelligence leaders next week to learn more.

US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia was trying to help Trump when hackers connected to the Kremlin breached Democratic Party computers and stole tens of thousands of emails that were then posted on WikiLeaks, some containing embarrassing information about Democratic infighting.

Clinton aide John Podesta’s emails were also stolen and released publicly in the final weeks of the campaign. - France24/AFP/Reuters.</s>The Syrian regime has signed a truce deal with rebels, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin leader also said the ceasefire agreement, to begin from midnight and guaranteed by Russia and Turkey's governments, will be followed by peace talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu says the truce will include 62,000 rebel fighters across the country.

The Russian military has reportedly set up a hotline with its Turkish counterpart to monitor compliance.

Mr Putin's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also said that President-elect Donald Trump's administration will be invited to the Syrian peace process once he takes office.

If true, and if the truce deal is respected, it could end a six-year civil war that has killed potentially more than 430,000 and forced around 11 million from their homes.

The Syrian military has also said it will down its weapons as part of the nationwide ceasefire from midnight.</s>BEIRUT (Reuters) - Clashes, shelling and air raids in western Syria marred a Russian- and Turkish-backed ceasefire that aims to end nearly six years of war and lead to peace talks between rebels and a government emboldened by recent battlefield success.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, announced the ceasefire on Thursday after forging the agreement with Turkey, a longtime backer of the opposition.

The truce went into force at midnight but monitors and rebels reported almost immediate clashes, and violence appeared to escalate later on Friday as warplanes bombed areas in the country’s northwest, they said.

Asaad Hanna, a political officer in the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a loose alliance of insurgent groups, told Reuters violence had reduced but had not stopped.

“We cannot be optimistic about someone like the Russians who used to kill us for six years ... they are not angels. But we are happy because we are reducing the violence and working to find a solution for the current situation,” said Hanna.

The ceasefire is meant as a first step toward fresh peace talks, after several failed international efforts this year to halt the conflict, which began as a peaceful uprising and descended into war in 2011.

It has resulted in more than 300,000 deaths, displaced more than 11 million people and drawn in the military involvement of world and regional powers, including Moscow and Ankara.

The agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey, which said they will guarantee the truce, is the first of three ceasefire deals this year not to involve the United States or United Nations.

Moscow is keen to push ahead with peace talks, hosted by its ally Kazakhstan. But the first challenge will be maintaining the truce, which looked shaky on Friday.

WARPLANES AND HELICOPTERS

Syrian government warplanes carried out nearly 20 raids against rebels in several towns along the provincial boundary between Idlib and Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Clashes between rebel groups and government forces took place overnight in the area, the Observatory and rebel officials said.

Warplanes and helicopters also struck northwest of Damascus in the rebel-held Wadi Barada valley, where government troops and allied forces clashed with rebels, the British-based Observatory reported.

A military media unit run by Damascus’s ally Hezbollah denied any Syrian government air strikes on the area.

An official from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel group said government forces had also tried to advance in southern Aleppo province.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military on Friday’s clashes.

Residents of several rebel-held areas, including towns and cities in Idlib province, used the relative calm to hold street protests against the Syrian government on Friday, the Observatory said.

A number of rebel groups have signed the new agreement, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday. Several rebel officials acknowledged the deal, and a FSA spokesman said it would abide by the truce.

Hanna, the FSA political officer, said late on Friday rebels were not yet responding to attacks by pro-government forces and had asked Turkey to make sure the attacks stop.

“If the breaks come again, we will reply to all the sources of fire. We are monitoring the fighting but our weapons are ready,” he said.

PREVIOUS COLLAPSES

The previous two Syria ceasefires, brokered by Washington and Moscow, took effect in February and September but both collapsed within weeks as warring sides accused each other of truce violations and fighting intensified.

Putin said the parties were prepared to start peace talks intended to take place in Astana. Syrian state media said late on Thursday those talks would take place “soon”.

The Syrian government will be negotiating from a strong position after its army and their allies, including Shi’ite militias supported by Iran, along with Russian air power, routed rebels in their last major urban stronghold of Aleppo this month.

Moscow’s air campaign since September last year has turned the war in Assad’s favor, and the last rebels left Aleppo for areas that are still under rebel control to the west of the city, including the province of Idlib.

A man rides a bicycle near damaged buildings in the rebel held besieged city of Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria December 30, 2016. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

On Friday the Russian ambassador to the United Nations said Moscow had circulated a proposed resolution at the U.N. Security Council that would endorse the ceasefire, and said he hoped the council would vote on the resolution on Saturday.

In another sign that the latest truce could be as challenging to maintain as its predecessors, there was confusion over which rebel groups would be covered by the ceasefire.

The Syrian army said the agreement did not include the radical Islamist group Islamic State, fighters from al-Qaeda’s former branch the Nusra Front, or any factions linked to those jihadist groups.

But several rebel officials said on Thursday that the agreement did include the former Nusra Front - now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham - which announced in July that it was severing ties with al Qaeda.

A spokesman for Jabhat Fateh al-Sham criticized the ceasefire for not mentioning Assad’s fate, and said the political solution under this agreement would “reproduce the criminal regime”.

“The solution is to topple the criminal regime militarily,” he said in a statement on Friday.

The powerful Islamist insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham said it had not signed the ceasefire agreement because of “reservations” but did not elaborate.

RUSSIA-TURKEY DETENTE

The deal follows a thaw in ties between Russia and Turkey.

Ankara backs rebels fighting against Islamic State, which has made enemies of all other sides involved in the conflict.

In a sign of the detente, the Turkish armed forces said on Friday Russian aircraft had carried out three air strikes against Islamic State in the area of al-Bab in northern Syria.

Ankara has insisted on the departure of Assad but his removal has become a secondary concern to fighting the expansion of Kurdish influence in northern Syria. The chances of Assad’s opponents forcing him from power now seem more remote than at any point in the war.

Turkish demands that fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement leave Syria may not please Iran, another major Assad supporter. Hezbollah has been fighting alongside Syrian government forces against rebels.

Slideshow (9 Images)

On Thursday a senior Hezbollah official said the party’s military wing would remain in Syria.

The United States, in the waning days of U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, has been sidelined in recent negotiations and is not due take part in the Kazakhstan talks.

Russia has said the United States could join a fresh peace process once President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. It also wants Egypt to join, together with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan and the United Nations.

Trump has said he would cooperate more closely with Russia to fight terrorism but it was unclear what that policy would look like, given resistance from the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community to closer cooperation with Russia on Syria.</s>Moscow: Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a nationwide ceasefire deal to come into effect across Syria from midnight and that the warring parties had agreed to sit down for peace talks.

The deal brokered by Russia and Turkey could represent a major breakthrough in nearly 6 years of war in Syria and comes a week after rebel resistance was crushed in the second city of Aleppo.

Although on opposing sides in the conflict, Turkey and Russia have been working intensively to find a ceasefire after the fall of Aleppo, in a process that conspicuously does not include the United States.

Putin said in televised comments that Damascus and the "main forces of the armed opposition" had inked the truce agreement and a document expressing a readiness to start peace talks.

"Several hours ago, the event occurred that we have not only been waiting for but been working so much to hasten," Putin said in a meeting with his defence and foreign ministers.

After the Kremlin announcement, Syria's army said it would halt all military operations from midnight, and the opposition National Coalition also said it backed the truce.

Putin also said he would reduce Moscow's military contingent in Syria, which has been flying a bombing campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad since 2015.

The Kremlin strongman, however, said that Russia would continue to fight "terrorism" in the war-torn country and maintain its support for the government in Damascus.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the seven opposition groups, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham, that have signed up to the agreements after months of talks comprise some 62,000 fighters and control a large portion of territory in central and northern Syria.

He warned that any groups that did not abide by the ceasefire would be considered "terrorists" alongside the Islamic State group and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Al-Nusra Front, now rebranded the Fateh al-Sham Front.

Putin's announcement of the deal came hours after Turkey's foreign minister said the potential truce could start by New Year.

The nationwide ceasefire follows the deal brokered by Turkey and Russia for Aleppo which allowed the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.

Moscow and Ankara are now pushing for peace talks between Damascus and the rebels to start soon in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.

"Now we need to do everything for these agreements to come into force, for them to work, so that the negotiating teams that have been or are being formed promptly and as soon as possible arrive in Astana," Putin said.

Russia and Turkey have both said that the peace talks they will supervise are meant to supplement UN-backed peace efforts, rather than replace them entirely.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia, Turkey and Iran were currently organising for the talks to begin in Astana and pressing for other key international players to get involved.

Lavrov said Moscow would invite Egypt before trying to attract other regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Jordan.

In a clear snub to US President Barack Obama, Russia's top diplomat said Moscow would look to get the team of President-elect Donald Trump in the mix when he takes power next month.

As its cooperation tightened with Moscow, Turkey stood conspicuously quiet as the regime, supported by Russia, took control last week of Aleppo, handing the rebels their biggest defeat in the civil war so far.

The victory was also a boost for Putin, who sent forces to Syria last year to bolster Assad in an unprecedented intervention.

Syria's conflict began with a 2011 uprising against Assad but quickly morphed into a complicated civil war that has now killed more than 310,000 people and forced millions more from their homes.

The conflict continued to rage as civilians were killed in regime strikes on Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP in Beirut.

The observatory said At least 15 civilians, including six children, were killed on Thursday in airstrikes and artillery fire on rebel-held territory near Syria's capital Damascus.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the Syrian government and rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad have reached a ceasefire to end the fighting in the more-than-five-year civil war. Here’s what we know so far about the agreement—and its potential implications: The Syrian government and, according to Russia’s defense minister, seven armed groups who command about 60,000 fighters. The Defense Ministry named the groups as Feilak al-Sham (4,000 fighters), Ahrar al-Sham (16,000), Jaysh al-Islam (12,000), Thuwar al-Sham (2,500), Jaysh al-Mujahideen (8,000), Jaysh Idlib (6,000), Jabhat al-Shamiyah (3,000). When will it go into effect? December 30 at midnight, according to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry. Who will ensure the truce isn’t broken? The Turkish Foreign Ministry says Turkey and Russia will jointly monitor the ceasefire; Russian President Vladimir Putin included Iran on that list. Russia and Iran support Assad; Turkey supports some rebel groups.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said Jabhat al-Nusra (the group now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham), ISIS, and affiliated groups are excluded. The agreement that is reached will be submitted to the UN Security Council later Thursday, the Russian foreign minister said. Both Turkey and Russia said representatives of the Syrian government and the rebels will meet soon in Astana, the Kazakh capital. Turkey added that they will be accompanied by the guarantor countries. Putin said the agreement was detailed in three documents. He said the first was signed by the Syrian government and the opposition to stop hostilities; the second to control the ceasefire; and the third “a declaration of intention for Syrian settlement.” No other details of the content of those documents have been released. No rebel commanders have yet publicly commented on the ceasefire. But Ahmad Ramadan, a spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition, a major opposition group, told the AP that the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a coalition of rebel groups, will abide by the truce, but will retaliate to violations by Syrian forces and their allies. Separately, Al Jazeera reported that on Wednesday the negotiating arm of the largest group of rebels fighting under the banner of the FSA “said they had yet to be in contact with anyone and had not been invited to participate in talks.”

The Syrian civil war has dragged on for more than five years. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed and millions more displaced. In the early days of the fighting, it appeared as if Assad would go the way of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, but Russia became involved in November 2015. Since that time, Assad, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iranian fighters, as well as members of Shiite Lebanese militia Hezbollah, made steady gains. Earlier this month, government forces captured all of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city that was divided since 2012. The recapture of the city means Assad now controls the overwhelming majority of Syria’s population centers. Rebels still control territory, including Idlib province, but are on the defensive. Assad is likely to stay in power for now and Russia can scale back its military involvement in Syria—as Putin himself acknowledged Thursday. Assad and his allies can also turn their attention to ISIS, al-Nusra, which was previously linked to al-Qaeda, and other groups it deems as terrorists. Short answer: It’s anyone’s guess, but past attempts at a ceasefire have failed, and Putin himself acknowledged that conditions are “fragile.” It’s unclear if Assad has the incentive not to target other rebel groups, though he is believed to be weak without Russian support. It’s also unclear if all the rebel groups will abide by a truce—or whether the guarantors of the ceasefire—Russia, Turkey, and Iran—agree on which of the rebels are terrorist organizations, and, consequently, can be targeted. Indeed, commentators pointed out Russia had labeled two of the groups included in the ceasefire list—Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam—as terrorists last month.</s>DAMASCUS: Syria’s army said Thursday it would halt all military operations from midnight under a truce deal brokered by Russia and Turkey and supported by a leading Syrian opposition body.

The agreement was announced earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin who said the Syrian regime and “main forces of the armed opposition” had signed on.

“The general command of the armed forces announces a complete halt to all hostilities on Syrian territory from the zero hour of December 30th,” Syria’s army said in a statement carried on state television.

It said that the ceasefire excluded the Islamic State group and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Al-Nusra Front, now rebranded the Fateh al-Sham Front. The National Coalition, a leading Syrian political opposition group based in Turkey, confirmed its backing for the truce.

“The National Coalition expresses support for the agreement and urges all parties to abide by it,” spokesman Ahmed Ramadan told AFP. He said key rebel groups including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham and Army of Islam factions had signed the ceasefire deal, though there was no immediate confirmation from rebel representatives. “The agreement includes a ceasefire in all areas held by the moderate opposition, or by the moderate opposition and elements from Fateh al-Sham, such as Idlib province,” he told AFP.

Idlib, in northwest Syria, is controlled by an alliance of rebel groups led by Fateh al-Sham.

The group, in its previous incarnation as Al-Nusra, was designated a “terrorist” organisation by countries including the United States, as well as the United Nations.

The ceasefire agreement follows the recapture by Syria’s government of the country’s second city Aleppo from rebels, in the worst blow to opposition forces since the war began.

It will be the first nationwide halt in fighting since a week-long truce from September 12-19 that collapsed after several incidents of violence. A previous truce was implemented in February. Both of those deals were organised by Russia and the United States.

The latest agreement is the first nationwide ceasefire brokered with the involvement of Turkey, a backer of the Syrian opposition.

Russia is a key supporter of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and began a military intervention in support of his government in September 2015.

Despite backing opposing sides in the conflict, and a souring of relations after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane last year, Ankara and Moscow have worked increasingly closely on Syria.

They jointly brokered a ceasefire for Aleppo this month that allowed the last remaining rebels and civilians in the city’s east to leave to opposition territory elsewhere.

More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with protests against Assad’s government.

Successive bids to reach a peace deal to end the conflict have failed, but Moscow has said it is planning to convene new negotiations in Kazakhstan.

And the army statement said the ceasefire was intended to “create conditions to support the political track” in resolving the conflict.—Agencies</s>A nationwide ceasefire in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey was in effect early on Friday, a potentially major breakthrough in the nearly 6-year conflict, despite reports of isolated clashes.

While the truce was standing in most parts of the country, some fighting broke out near a Christian town in central Hama province between rebels and Syrian government, according to a monitoring group.

“Fierce clashes took place between the two sides pushing regime forces to withdraw from a hill near Maharda,” Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency.

“Small rebel groups and armed loyalists are seeking to destroy the truce because it puts an end to their presence,” he said.

In a report on Thursday, the monitor said major provinces witnessed “a calm atmosphere” in the first hours of the ceasefire.

Elsewhere, the Turkish military said on Friday that Russia carried out three air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group near al-Bab, killing at least 12 ISIL fighters.

At least one Turkish soldier was killed in an attack on ISIL in northern Syria, Turkey’s army added, claiming that its air strikes killed another 26 ISIL fighters in al-Bab and Daglabash. ISIL is excluded from the ceasefire.

The ceasefire agreement, hailed by Syria’s government as a “real opportunity” to find a political solution to the war, comes a week after government forces recaptured the city of Aleppo in a major blow to rebel forces.

Russia and Turkey back opposing sides in the conflict, and the ceasefire does not involve the US, which has negotiated previous ceasefires with Moscow.

A statement carried on Thursday by Syria’s state news agency SANA said the truce, as well as excluding ISIL, also leaves out fighters from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and “groups linked to them”.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish border with Syria, said “there are high hopes that this [truce] might work, but there are huge potential problems with it. The biggest seems to be this group – Jabhat Fateh al-Sham”.

“There are fears that if there are air strikes targeting” Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which has often fought alongside a number of signatories to the agreement, “then there may be some casualties” among those factions as well.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said seven opposition groups, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham, had signed the deal and those who failed to adhere would be considered “terrorists”.

Usama Abu Zeyd, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) spokesman, said that the rebels had held no direct talks with the Syrian government or Iran during the truce talks and insisted that President Bashar al-Assad would have no place in the future of Syria.

“The ceasefire covers all the territories of Syria and it extends to include all the groups fighting under the Syrian armed opposition,” he said, adding that the rebels had agreed to start peace talks.

The agreement comes after Turkey and Russia also brokered a deal to allow the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians and rebel fighters from Aleppo.

“Now we need to do everything for these agreements to come into force, for them to work, so that the negotiating teams that have been or are being formed promptly and as soon as possible arrive in Astana,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said he hoped the agreement would “pave the way for productive talks” in Kazakhstan, but also reiterated he wants negotiations mediated by his office to continue early next year.

Turkey has long backed Syria’s opposition, and its relations with Russia soured last year after Ankara shot down a Russian warplane.</s>(CNN) Call it a pop-up alliance. After spending much of this year berating each other after Turkey shot down a Russian jet over the Syrian-Turkish border , the two governments are suddenly the "honest brokers" of a ceasefire in Syria -- one that is designed to lead to political negotiations. The United States, which has long championed the stuttering diplomatic process on resolving the Syrian conflict, is nowhere to be seen.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the ceasefire was only the first step, with other documents signed on enforcing the truce and beginning peace talks. The Syrian military promised to cease operations nationwide at midnight Thursday.

Here's how the deal looks.

Russian and Turkey are now driving what had been a UN-led political process.

Each is responsible for bringing its own allies into the process: the Russians will bring the Assad regime on board and the Turks as many moderate factions as they can coax or cajole. Both sides envisage a rapid timeline, with the Turkish Foreign Ministry saying the Assad regime and opposition would meet soon in Kazakhstan, according to Turkish state media.

Plenty can still go wrong, and recent history gives little cause for optimism.

Putin acknowledged that "all the agreements reached are very fragile." Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoğlu said Thursday that details on how to monitor the ceasefire and apply sanctions against those who breached it were still being worked out. And he insisted there would be no direct negotiations between Turkey and the Syrian government.

But the intent is clear: peel off moderate rebel groups from the tacit alliances they have formed with radical Islamist groups in parts of Syria. Then crush the militant groups excluded from the process. And this is where, inevitably, things get complicated.

One source in Ahrar al-Sham, which receives extensive support from Turkey, acknowledged that it is involved in the negotiations. But late Thursday the group said on its Twitter feed that it "has reservations about the proposed agreement" and had not yet signed. Its ultimate decision will be important. If Ahrar does sign up, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham will be isolated and vulnerable.

The timing of the deal is critical. The Russian-Turkish entente has exploited the political transition in Washington, ignoring the Obama administration in its dying days and betting that the Trump administration will accept a process already under way.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already issued the invitation.

"I would like to express the hope that as soon as the administration of Donald Trump takes office, they will also be able to join these efforts," he said during a meeting with Putin in Moscow.

The President-elect has expressed doubts about the reliability of moderate groups previously supported by the Obama administration and suggested his administration would consider joining Russia in the battle against ISIS in Syria.

Vladimir Putin held all the best cards, and it seems that Ankara decided to cash in its chips. It was not abandoning its allies among the Syrian factions, but refocusing its efforts on creating a "Turkey-friendly" region in northern Syria. In the process President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to kill two birds with one stone.

Turkey has long been exasperated by US support for the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the YPG. "Up to now, the US has given weapons to the YPG, full stop," Cavusoğlu said Thursday.

Washington sees the YPG as its battering ram against ISIS in northern Syria. Turkey sees it as a terror organization intimately linked to its own Kurdish insurgents, the PKK. A CNN team inside northern Syria earlier this year saw plenty of evidence of those links, including large posters of the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in many Kurdish-dominated towns.

The United States has denied supplying the YPG with weapons but says it provides tactical support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, the umbrella group in which the YPG is the main component.

One sign of the new cooperation between Russia and Turkey is the introduction of Russian air power this week to help groups allied to Turkey rid the strategic town of Al Bab in northern Syria of ISIS fighters. Another is the establishment of a hotline to monitor breaches of the new ceasefire.

The Russia-Turkey axis may be a marriage of convenience, and there are some major hurdles to overcome. Turkey wants the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah -- a key military supporter of the Assad regime -- out of Syria. That will not sit well with Iran, which is also sponsoring the ceasefire process.

Nor has Turkey abandoned its long-term goal that President Bashar al Assad must step down. That also remains the position of the Free Syrian Army, whose representative Abu Zeid said Thursday: "The fact that the negotiations are based on Geneva 1 [the UN-sponsored peace process] means that there is no place for Assad in Syria's future."

In addition, some fighters with Islamist groups -- especially in Ahrar al-Sham -- may opt to join the resistance rather than lay down their arms. And the Gulf states -- especially Qatar and Saudi Arabia -- may decide to double down on their support for groups opposed to negotiations.

Abu Zeid, who took part in the negotiations on behalf of the opposition, insisted Thursday: "Our message to the Syrian population is that our fingers will remain on the trigger."

But the truth is that armed and political opposition to the Syrian regime, shorn of its support from Ankara, has rarely been weaker since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad began five years ago. And the most influential actors on the ground in Syria -- Russia, Turkey, Iran and the Syrian regime -- are, for now, all on the same page.
Russian president Vladimir Putin says a ceasefire has been brokered between the Syrian government and rebel forces. The ceasefire is said to be guaranteed by Russia and Turkey and would exclude UN-denominated terror organizations such as ISIL and al-Nusra. The FSA says it would abide by the truce, while Ahrar al-Sham expresses "reservations".