BEIRUT—Syria on Monday dismissed the idea of foreign forces patrolling four so-called de-escalation zones that are to be established under a deal struck by Russia, Iran and Turkey, suggesting Damascus would only settle for Russian “military police” who are already on the ground.

Damascus would abide by the agreement signed in Kazakhstan last week, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told reporters in the Syrian capital, but cautioned it was “premature” to say whether the deal would succeed.

“There will be no presence by any international forces supervised by the United Nations,” al-Moallem said. “The Russian guarantor has clarified that there will be military police and observation centres.”

Though he did not specify who the military police would be, he appeared to be referring to Russian observers already in Syria.

Al-Moallem also vowed that Syrian government forces would respond “decisively” to any violation by the rebels.

“There are still logistical details that will be discussed in Damascus and we will see the extent of commitment to this agreement,” al-Moallem said.

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The ceasefire deal went into effect over the weekend, bringing a general reduction in violence, but clashes continued, particularly in central Syria. There are still questions about how the agreement will be enforced.

Russia and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, which backs the rebels, may deploy armed forces to secure the four so-called “de-escalation zones,” in what would amount to unprecedented co-ordination between the three regional powers.

The UN Security Council president says Russia wants a vote early this week on a resolution supporting the deal. Uruguay’s Ambassador Elbio Rosselli told reporters “there are consultations ongoing” on the text.

Several other council diplomats said a vote Monday or Tuesday — as Moscow is seeking — is highly unlikely, explaining that they need details on the zones.

The United States is not party to the de-escalation agreement. U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. would take a close look at the proposal for “safe zones” in Syria, but he said the plan poses many unanswered questions, including whether it would be effective.

“We’ll look at the proposal, see if it can work,” Mattis told reporters travelling with him to Copenhagen, where he will attend a meeting of the U.S.-led coalition battling Daesh, also known as ISIS. “Will it affect the fight against ISIS? I think the international community is united in the sense of wanting to see ISIS put on its back foot.”

Al-Moallem, Syria’s foreign minister, said he hopes the agreement will, as a start, achieve a separation between Syrian armed opposition groups and extremist groups such as Al Qaeda, saying the former must force the latter to leave the de-escalation zones.

But even if the agreement is enforced, it is unlikely to end the conflict. Despite several rounds of UN-mediated negotiations in Geneva, the government and opposition remain at odds over Assad’s future role in Syria.

Al-Moallem suggested government forces’ next target is Deir el-Zour, where Daesh militants are besieging parts of the eastern city that are under government control and are home to tens of thousands of people. He said the government aims to regain control of all of Syria, adding that areas bordering Iraq will be a priority.

Al-Moallem said the government’s alternative to stalled negotiations has been the implementation of “reconciliation agreements” around the country.

Such agreements have seen the surrender of rebel-held areas to government forces and their allies, often after a prolonged period of siege, in exchange for safe relocation to opposition-held areas elsewhere in the country.

As the foreign minister spoke to reporters, hundreds of rebels and their families left aboard buses from a besieged opposition-held neighbourhood of Damascus for rebel-held areas in the country’s north, according to state TV and opposition activists.

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The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 1,500 people were expected to leave the Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh on Monday, and more in the coming weeks. Syrian state TV said some 60 buses and ambulances of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were on hand for the evacuations.

Barzeh came under siege last month, after government forces captured a major road near the area, separating it from rebel-held eastern suburbs of Damascus.

Tens of thousands of people living in besieged areas around Damascus, Homs and Aleppo — Syria’s largest city — have surrendered under similar agreements in recent months, agreeing to relocate in what critics have said amounts to forced displacement.

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