UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2019) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the five-day ceasefire in northern Syria agreed by the United States and Turkey, while recognizing that significant effort would still be required to resolve the country's crisis, his spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
"The Secretary-General welcomes any effort to de-escalate the situation and protect civilians, in line with the UN Charter and international humanitarian law," the statement said. "The Secretary-General recognizes that there is still a long way to go for an effective solution to the crisis in Syria."
Earlier in the day, US Vice President Mike Pence announced after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara that Turkey had agreed to pause his country's incursion in northern Syria for 120 hours while Kurdish militants withdraw from a safe zone that extends 30 kilometers (20 miles) beyond Turkey's border.
