(Reuters) -Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and the commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), General Mazloum Abdi, agreed on Tuesday to a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts in northern and northeastern Syria.
The truce is effective immediately, Syria’s Defence Ministry said.
Recent clashes between the two sides have cast a shadow over a landmark deal signed in March between the Kurdish-led SDF and Syria’s new Islamist-led government to integrate the regional force into state institutions.
The deal aimed to help stitch together a country fractured by 14 years of civil war and pave the way for Kurdish-led forces that hold a quarter of Syria to merge with Damascus, along with regional Kurdish governing bodies.
Separately, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met in Damascus on Tuesday with U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack and U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, the Syrian presidency said.
The talks, attended by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Defence Minister Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Hussein al-Salameh, focused on recent developments in Syria, support for the political process and efforts to bolster security and stability.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan; editing by Aidan Lewis, Mark Heinrich and Gareth Jones)
