Nusra Front leader Jolani calls on rebels to reject truce with Assad
The leader of Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has called on rebels to reject a truce with the Syrian government.
According to analyst Hassan Hassan, Jolani focuses on the beginnings of the Syria uprising and the reasons why Syrians rose up to bring down what he says is now a weakened regime.
Damascus, Homs, Latakia heavily bombed hours before Syria ceasefire
Amateur footage by the pro-opposition Qasioun News Agency shows heavy airstrikes over the rebel-held Jobar neighborhood in Damascus today, just hours before a cessation in hostilities is expected to come into effect.
Rebels in northern Latakia province also said that there were heavy Russian airstrikes there today.
The pro-opposition Step News agency posted this footage which it says shows explosive barrel bombs being dropped over the rebel-held area of Darayya in Eastern Ghouta today.
Russia expects U.N. Security Council to back Syria ceasefire plan
Russia expects the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution endorsing the planned 'cessation of hostilities' in Syria, but nobody can give a 100 percent guarantee that the ceasefire plan will be implemented, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
Nearly 100 rebel factions have agreed to Syria ceasefire (AFP)
Some 97 Syrian rebel factions have agreed today to abide by a Russian-U.S. ceasefire for two weeks, the main Saudi-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee said.
Damascus hasn't received invite to next round of Syria talks: Envoy
Syria's envoy in Moscow, Riyad Haddad, has said that the Syrian government has not yet received an invitation to the next round of peace talks in Geneva.
RIA says that a Russian Foreign Ministry source has said that the next round of talks is set to take place on March 7.
What are the U.S.'s options if Syria ceasefire fails?
CNN reports that the Obama administration is holding internal discussions on military options if the ceasefire in Syria fails to take hold.
These options -- part of a so-called Plan B -- include the possibility of increasing the number of U.S. Special Forces on the ground in Syria, though no decision has been made; training and assisting local "moderate" forces, recruiting help from other countries and establishing a no-fly zone for refugees a senior U.S. official has told CNN.
Russia dismissed the idea of a "Plan B" for Syria yesterday, saying that the United States had not spoken to it about such plans.
Regarding a no-fly zone, CNN points out that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke about this concept before Congress this week -- and noted the difficulties inherent in such a scheme:
"Our Pentagon estimates that to have a true safe zone in the north of the country, you may have upwards of 15,000 to 30,000 troops. Now, are we ready to authorize that? Are we ready to put them on the ground?" Kerry asked.
He added, "It really requires Congress to sort of analyze if somebody's going to call for a no-fly zone. It takes planes going out and destroying the air-defense system so you can fly around and make it a no-fly zone."
Reuters: How the West misread Putin over Syria
Reuters have published a rather good analysis of how Western officials misread Russia over the Syrian crisis, especially after the West predicted last summer that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's days were numbered.
Reuters notes that Russia's military intervention,
taking many in the West by surprise, would roll back rebel gains. It would also accelerate two shifts in U.S. diplomacy: Washington would welcome Iran to the negotiating table over Syria, and it would no longer insist that Assad step down immediately.
...
At the heart of the diplomacy shift - which essentially brought Washington closer to Moscow's position - was a slow-footed realization of the Russian military build-up in Syria and, ultimately, a refusal to intervene militarily.
Information regarding the ceasefire in Syria after the U.S.-Russia agreement on a truce is already being received, Russian President Putin has said, according to RIA Novosti.
Putin thanks FSB for counterterrorism ops in Syria
Russia's Putin has thanked the Federal Security Service (FSB) for their role in counterterrorism operations in Syria.
"First of all I would like to thank you, all the employees of the central apparatus, territorial structures, and special units for your competent work towards the security and stable development of Russia. I include also those of our colleagues who work in the military counter-intelligence line, that is, those who support the activity of our pilots during counter-terrorist operations in Syria and anti-terrorist units operating inside the country," Putin said at a meeting of the board of the FSB.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a number of comments regarding the Syria ceasefire.
Putin said that Moscow "hopes the U.S. will proceed from fact that fight against IS and other terror groups is necessary after start of ceasefire ."