Sputnik - A newly announced deal on a ceasefire in southwestern Syria may be an attempt by the United States to save the Syrian rebels from defeat, according to Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Executive Director Daniel McAdams.


WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A newly announced deal on a ceasefire in southwestern Syria may be an attempt by the United States to save the Syrian rebels from defeat, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Executive Director Daniel McAdams told Sputnik.


"On the Syria ‘ceasefire’ agreement, we need to see the fine print. But I am skeptical that yet another US ‘ceasefire’ proposal for Syria will result in the reduction of violence in that six year war," McAdams said on Friday. "It seems whenever the US side experiences significant losses on the battlefield, Washington comes forward with a ceasefire proposal in a desperate attempt to save its ‘rebels’ from defeat."


Earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, after talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that the United States, Russia and Jordan agreed on ceasefire in southwestern Syria starting at noon on July 9.

McAdams suggested that the best agreement between Putin and Trump on Syria would be "a negotiated withdrawal of US forces from the country, where they illegally occupy Syrian territory."

The United States and Russia have backed opposing sides in Syria's six-year-conflict, with Moscow supporting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Washington backing rebel groups seeking his ouster.

Russia, Iran and Turkey are guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire regime, having signed a memorandum on the establishment of four safe zones in Syria that came into force on May 6.