The United States and Russia haven’t agreed on many things lately, but they seem to have come together on one crucial thing lately: that the devastated cities of Syria and their people need help, and they’re two nations with the means to deliver such humanitarian assistance. Also, they are in union for a “cessation of hostilities” within a week, a step they say is the first for a formal and complete cease-fire.

“We have agreed to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities in one week’s time,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. “That is ambitious.”

Kerry still delivered a doubtful remark in the way of the Russian representation, Sergey V. Lavrov, saying that “the real test is whether all the parties honor those commitments”.

As you may recall, America is still highly-skeptical of Russia’s intentions, especially in the past few weeks, where they’ve seen their support of Syria’s controversial president Bashar al-Assad escalate in the form of more and more air support.

If the cessation comes to fruition, it will be the first stop to fighting of any kind since the civil war started in 2011. In that time, it’s been estimated that more than 4.4 million people have fled the country with millions more displaced within.

This from The New York Times:

But even a formal cease-fire would be partial — it excludes the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and the Nusra Front, both designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations — and highly fragile.

At moments during a nearly hourlong news conference, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov used the phrase “cessation of hostilities” and “cease-fire” interchangeably. But Mr. Kerry acknowledged the first was more temporary, and “a cease-fire is more permanent,” a recognized series of steps in international law.

What he envisions a week from now, Mr. Kerry said, “is a pause.” But the practical effect should be “ending hostile activity” while food is airdropped and driven into war-torn areas. Most are held by the government, some by rebel groups.

There are many reasons to question whether either the relief effort or a meaningful cease-fire will come to pass, or achieve the goal of ending the conflict.

Stay tuned to the blog for more on this developing story.