The deal between the Syrian government and opposition to turn the long-contested city of Homs over to Assad forces has “the potential of actually be replicated elsewhere,” Yacoub El Hillo, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday.

"Homs is an experiment that needs to be studied carefully, he said. “I think it’s always the case when Syrians are able to sit together, and agree to discuss the problem – and it’s a big one – there is always a possibility of reaching a solution.”

After a brutal three-year siege, residents of Homs are returning to utter devastation.

Homs was ground zero in the revolution, but the government won back the city last week, when it offered to bus the rebels out with the government looking on.

“At the end of the day there is no victor, no winner. This cost of this conflict is too high for anyone to claim victory, frankly speaking.”

But it is critical to stem the killing and return some normalcy to civilians, he said.

“I think there is a lot that can be drawn from the Homs experiment. And I do hope that the Syrians – because after all this is a Syrian-Syrian affair – they will choose to see if this can be applied elsewhere.”

Click above to watch Amanpour’s full interview with El Hillo.