"Washington showed Ankara NATO won't come to rescue it"

"Washington showed Ankara NATO won't come to rescue it"

"I am not real confident, but it is the best thing we have got going right now. Look, nothing like this would be happening and there would not even be a chance of a viable ceasefire if it was not for the Russian air campaign in Syria and the advances made by the Syrian Army, with Russian support, which has essentially forced the various terrorist groups supported by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and - let’s be honest about it - by the United States," he said.

Jatras also stated it remained to be seen whether there can be agreement between the two countries on who can be considered a terrorist group and which groups will be included in the deal.

"There are many other pitfalls that could come up, for example, things like provocations that the Syrian Army is ‘violating the ceasefire,’ when instead it is being staged by one of the rebel groups," he said, adding he was not certain that the cessation of hostilities included also an end to Turkey's bombing of Kurdish positions in Syria.

"If you look at the text of the agreement, it does not specifically mention Turkey or Saudi Arabia, although I suppose you could infer them for mention of the ‘U.S.-led coalition,’ which of course they are not really members. Turkey is really concerned about the Kurds and they are supporting various other terrorist groups in Syria. I think one reason this agreement came about between the United States and Russia is because the Turks and the Saudis for the last few weeks have been making a lot of noise about their willingness to intervene on the ground in Syria to save – let’s face it - their terrorist assets there, but only if the Americans led the way. We made it clear that the Americans are not going to lead the way and their bluff has essentially been called and that is one reason why we are at this juncture today," Jatras said.

The former U.S. diplomat also believes that enforcing the cease fire will be "extremely difficult."

"If Turkey were to send its forces into Syria, this would be completely illegal; they would be subject to reprisals from the Syrian Army and Russian air support. Washington has made it clear to Ankara that 'you guys are on your own and if you are stupid enough to send your forces into Syria and you get hit by the Russians, don’t expect NATO to come to the rescue'," he said.

According to Jatras, many things could go wrong, and for that reason, "the military option from Damascus with Moscow’s support needs to stay on the table."