Last week, a ceasefire between Russia and the United States was achieved. This comes at a time where constant air bombardment was a common tactic used in the war-ridden country; however, both countries have different goals within the states.

Both the United States and Russia are targeting the self-proclaimed Islamic State, but when it comes to conflict in the Syrian Civil War, the two countries support opposite sides. The United States opposes the totalitarian government, led by Bashar al-Assad but backs the pro-democratic rebel groups. Conversely, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demonstrated support for the Assad regime.

This conflict of interest has sparked conflict in Syria between the United States and Russia, with the Assad government and Rebel factions as proxies.

This new treaty is supposed to solve these disputes and only allow for targeted air strikes against the Islamic States, a common enemy. These cessations of hostilities will also allow for humanitarian aid to reach civilians affected in the civil war, especially those in the besieged town of Aleppo. There has also proven to be a significant drop in violence just after the first week. However, there proves to be many obstacles to overcome, the largest one being geopolitics.