Kerry discusses ceasefire with Russia as violence rages in Syria

Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that a "provisional agreement" has been reached on a ceasefire that could begin in the next few days in Syria's five-year civil war.

Kerry said he spoke in the morning with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss terms of a ceasefire and the two now must reach out to the parties in the conflict.

He declined to go into the details of the agreement, saying it "is not yet done." But he said he anticipated that President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin would talk soon and after that, implementation could begin.

"The modalities for a cessation of hostilities are now being completed," Kerry said. "In fact, we are closer to a ceasefire today than we have been. A cessation of hostilities ... is possible over the course of these next hours."

The Russian Foreign Ministry seemed to stop short of Kerry's announcement. The ministry said Lavrov and Kerry spoke on the phone Sunday for a second day in a row and discussed "the modality and conditions" for a ceasefire in Syria that would exclude groups that the U.N. Security Council considers “terrorist” organizations.

Meanwhile, violence continued to rage in Syria on Sunday. Multiple bomb blasts in a southern district of Damascus killed at least 163 people, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while twin car bombs killed at least 57 people in Homs, the monitoring group said, adding that they were among the deadliest in the city in five years of civil war.

Fighting has intensified in Syria during recent weeks and an earlier deadline to cease military activities was not observed. The United States, Russia and other world powers agreed Feb. 12 on a deal calling for the ceasing of hostilities within a week, the delivery of urgently needed aid to besieged areas of Syria and a return to peace talks in Geneva.

U.N. envoy Staffan De Mistura halted the latest Syria talks on Feb. 3, because of major differences between the two sides, exacerbated by increased aerial bombings and a wide military offensive by Syrian troops and their allies under the cover of Russian airstrikes. The humanitarian situation has only gotten worse, with an estimated 13.5 million Syrians in need of aid, including 6 million children.

"Peace is better than more war," Kerry said, standing next to Nasser Judeh, the foreign minister of Jordan, which hosts 635,000 Syrian refugees. "A political solution is better than then a futile attempt to try to find a military one that could result in so many more refugees, so many more jihadists, so much more destruction, and possibly even the complete destruction of Syria itself."

However, he reiterated the longtime U.S. position that any political solution to the conflict will not work if Syrian President Bashar Assad remains at the helm of the nation. "Make no mistake. The answer to the Syrian civil war will not be found in any military alliance with Assad," Kerry said. "Let me make that clear."

He said Russia now has to talk with the Syrian government and Iran, which backs Assad, and the U.S. has to talk with the opposition and members of the International Syria Support Group. He said he knows that not every party will automatically agree to the agreement reached for a ceasefire.

"There is a stark choice for everybody here," Kerry said.

"I know how much work remains and I don't know if everyone is going to meet their commitments," Kerry said. "I can't vouch for that — the United States can't make certain of that."

He said enforcement issues still need to be resolved in addition to how any breeches will be addressed.

"These are details that have to be determined if it going to be effective," Kerry said.

Later, Kerry met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman and was scheduled to fly to Aqaba for an evening meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

On the ground in Syria, a pair of explosions ripped through the central city of Homs, killing at least 57 people and wounding dozens, according tothe Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. 

The Homs blasts came amid reports that Syrian government forces captured 31 villages in the northern province of Aleppo from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Syrian troops have been on the offensive in different parts of the country under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

A state television report said Sunday's blasts struck in the pro-government neighborhood of Zahraa — a frequent target for similar explosions. 

Most of the bombing attacks in Homs over the past months have been claimed by ISIL, which controls parts of Homs province including the historic town of Palmyra.

The explosions took place just after 6 a.m. local time, and both the Observatory and the TV report said they were caused by a pair of car bombs.

The television report aired footage of the destruction caused by the blasts. Debris and mangled cars filled the streets and the charred body of a man was seen being taken away on a stretcher.

The Zahra neighborhood is predominantly Alawite, the minority Muslim sect to which President Bashar Assad belongs.

Homs, once dubbed the capital of the Syrian revolution, has been hit with a wave of explosions in recent months, killing and wounding scores of people. The rebels controlled large parts of Homs after the uprising against Assad's government began in March 2011.

With time, the government gained control of most of Homs' neighborhoods and a deal was reached late last year for fighters to evacuate the last rebel-held neighborhood of Waer.

Two blasts hit the Zahra neighborhood on Jan. 26, killing 20 and wounding more than 100 people.

To the north, the Syrian army captured 31 villages on Sunday that were controlled by ISIL, according to the pro-Syrian Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV and Hezbollah's Al-Manar station.

Al-Mayadeen and Al-Manar often have reporters embedded with Syrian troops in northern Syria.

Syrian state media earlier reported that Syrian troops had captured some 10 villages in Aleppo province from IS.

Wire services