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Speaking from Jordan on Sunday, Kerry said he discussed the truce proposal with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov but declined to provide details. Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on its website that the two men discussed truce conditions.

“There is a stark choice for everybody here,” Kerry said from the Jordanian capital, Amman. “Will every single party agree automatically? Not necessarily.”

Radicals Excluded

The cessation of hostilities is due to apply to all armed groups except for ISIL militants, the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and any other groups listed as terrorist organizations by the United Nations.

The move demonstrates the U.S. and Russia can work together despite differences, though a deal is unlikely in the short-term, according to William Lawrence, associate director for the Middle East and North Africa at Control Risks in Dubai.

“Ultimately, a successful Syria deal has to be more bottom- up than top-down,” Lawrence said. “But there’s no question that there is some important progress in the American-Russian conversation.”



Munich Talks

There have been three major attempts to end the fighting in Syria that began in March 2011. The latest round of negotiations broke down in early February, and were followed by talks in Munich that aimed for a partial cessation of hostilities by Feb. 19. But the fighting has ground on, including the two blasts Sunday in the Shiite suburb of Sayyida Zainab south of Damascus, where at least 83 died, and al-Zahraa in the city of Homs, that killed 57, according to the monitoring organization.