US Representative in Coalition: We are Encouraged by Continued Ceasefire in Southwest Syria

The representative of the Washington-led coalition has announced that the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Russia in the southwestern regions of Syria remains in place. A senior advisor to the US President has also mentioned the possibility of returning seized Russian assets if the ceasefire continues. Brett McGurk, the US representative in the international coalition against the group known as the Islamic State, stated on July 13 that the ceasefire agreed upon between the two powers in the southwestern regions of Syria is still maintained, which is encouraging for the coalition. Around the same time as McGurk's statements, Sebastian Gorka, an advisor to Donald Trump, told CNN that if the ceasefire continues, the US will release Russian properties seized at the end of Barack Obama's presidency. The ceasefire in southwestern Syria began on July 9 between Bashar al-Assad's government forces and some rebels controlling areas near the Jordanian border. The 'de-escalation zones' cover Daraa, Suwayda, and Quneitra, and the agreement was reached after the first meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US representative in the coalition stated that it is still too early to assess the future of the ceasefire, but 'we are very encouraged by the progress of the past five days.' McGurk made these remarks to reporters at the US State Department after meeting with senior officials from 30 member countries of the coalition. He also mentioned that Russia 'has indicated that it is very serious about this matter and plans to deploy some of its forces on the ground to monitor the actions of the Syrian government. They do not want the Syrian government to break the ceasefire.' On the same day that the US representative in the coalition expressed satisfaction about the ceasefire, Trump's advisor told CNN that the US government is willing to give cooperation and engagement with Russia a new opportunity. Sebastian Gorka stated, 'Don't forget that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war. This is horrific. If we see the Kremlin acting sincerely regarding issues like the Syrian ceasefire, then there will be a chance for what Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, wants to happen; namely, the improvement of relations between the two capitals [Moscow and Washington].' The assets that Gorka refers to were seized during US sanctions against Russia after Donald Trump's victory. The reasons cited were 'cyber attacks' and 'Russian interference' in the US election process and the use of the seized properties for 'espionage.' After the sanctions were passed, Russia initially announced that it would respond to this event. However, shortly after, Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying that Moscow had decided not to retaliate to see how Trump would behave towards Russia after taking office. Two weeks after this event, Trump stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that sanctions against Russia would remain in place for a while, but if Moscow helps the US, there would be no reason to maintain the sanctions. On July 10, the Russian Foreign Minister stated that his country would respond to the actions during Obama's term and the seizure of Russian properties, but he did not provide details of this potential response.