The United States hopes to collaborate with Russia on establishing more ceasefires in Syria, Senior Adviser to the US Secretary of State and State Department Policy Planning Director Brian Hook said on Thursday.
"In Syria, we established de-escalation zones fairly early in the administration, and those we agreed to are generally holding well. The ceasefire that we set up in southwest Syria has held since July, and we hope to cooperate on further ones," Hook said during the event in the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The United States, Russia and Jordan brokered a ceasefire among warring factions in southwest Syria that entered into force on July 9.
A total of four de-escalation zones have been established in Syria, namely in the south along the border with Jordan, in Eastern Ghouta, to the north of Homs, and in the Idlib province. The zones have been agreed upon by Russia, Iran and Turkey, which serve as guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire. Moscow has also been assisting Damascus both through supporting the struggle against the terrorist groups and by providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the crisis-torn country.
Syria has been involved in conflict since 2011 as numerous opposition factions and Islamic extremists and terrorist groups have fought the Syrian Arab Army in order to topple the government of President Bashar Assad.