Russia, Jordan working with US to set up safe zone in southern Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al-Safadi in Amman on Monday. (AFP)

AMMAN: Jordan and Russia said on Monday a cease-fire brokered with the US for southern Syria was “successful” and the next step would be to set up a safe zone there.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov made their remarks at a joint news conference in Amman.
Jordan shares a border of more than 370 km with Syria, where upwards of 330,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since its conflict broke out in 2011.
A cease-fire brokered by Jordan, Russia and the US in the southern Syrian provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Suweida has largely held since it came into force on July 9.
Both Safadi and Lavrov told reporters the cease-fire had been “successful.”
“We discussed issues pertaining to setting up a de-escalation zone in southeastern Syria,” Lavrov said, according to an Arabic translation of remarks he made in Russian.
Safadi said Jordan, Russia and the US were “determined to meet the objective” of setting up a safe zone in the area “as soon as possible.”
He said talks were under way between the three countries to establish the zone.
De-escalation in southern Syria is part of a broader Moscow-backed plan to create four “de-escalation zones” in rebel-held parts of the country.
Russia and Iran, main allies of the Syrian regime, and opposition-backer Turkey agreed in May to create the four zones in a deal aimed at bringing about a lasting truce.
Last month, Jordan government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Amman was hoping to reopen border crossings with Syria, noting that relations between the neighbors had been going in the “right direction.”
The economy of Jordan, a country devoid of natural resources, has been severely affected by the closure of its borders with Iraq and Syria, which are both at war.
The UN says Jordan is hosting more than 650,000 Syrian refugees, but authorities in the kingdom put their actual number at 1.4 million.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier urged UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to ramp up humanitarian aid, as Moscow said it would dispatch demining experts to the city of Deir Ezzor after regime gains.
Shoigu sent a letter to de Mistura in which he stressed the need for more humanitarian assistance in Syria in areas freed from “terrorists.”
“The document notes that government troops freed from terrorists a significant part of Syria with the help of Russia’s air force,” the defense ministry said.
“Conditions have been created for the revival of peaceful life.”