United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 15th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in New York City, U.S., April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is encouraged by an agreement reached on Thursday to create safe zones in certain areas of war-torn Syria, the United Nations said in a statement.

“It will be crucial to see this agreement actually improve the lives of Syrians,” a spokesman for the secretary-general said in the statement.