Pence says Turkey to end military operation after Syrian Kurd withdrawal

Syria Kurds say willing to abide by ceasefire

Turkey promised presence in Syria "safe zone" will be short, says US official

US official says this is the US "essentially validating what Turkey did"

Trump calls the ceasefire an "incredible outcome"

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have instructions to stop military operations

Pence: The US will "continue to engage" in Syria, but "not militarily"

US Vice President Mike Pence said the US and Turkey reached an agreement to suspend the Turkish military offensive in Syria and as such the US will not impose further sanctions on Turkey as part of the agreement, he said.

General Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the SDF is ready to abide by the ceasefire and will do all that is necessary to achieve it, according to Syrian Democratic Council co-chair Majdoleen Hassan who sent CNN the interview transcript.

Abdi told Kurdish television channel Ronahi TV in a phone interview that the "US gave us guarantees," after vowing the SDF would do all in their power to ensure a ceasefire. 

SDF called on Turkey to commit to the ceasefire in a statement today. The statement, issued by the General Command of SDF, goes on to say that it will abide by the ceasefire, which went into effect at 3 p.m. ET.

But while Pence said Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the agreement between the US and Turkey is not a ceasefire.

"We will pause, this is not a ceasefire. A ceasefire can only be between two legitimate entities," he said.

"This is not a ceasefire," Cavusoglu said during a televised news conference today.

“We will pause the operation for 120 hours in order for the terrorists to leave,” Cavusoglu said. "We will only stop the operation if our conditions are met.”

Cavusoglu said a “safe zone” would need to be established at roughly 20 miles east of the Euphrates river to the Iraqi border.

US official says this is the US "essentially validating what Turkey did"

The deal made with Turkey is "essentially validating" the Turkish offensive, a senior US official told CNN.

"This is essentially the US validating what Turkey did and allowing them to annex a portion of Syria and displace the Kurdish population,” the official said.

The official continued:

“This is what Turkey wanted and what POTUS green lighted. I do think one reason Turkey agreed to it is because of the Kurds have put up more of a resistance and they could not advance south any further as a result. If we don’t impose sanctions then Turkey wins big time."

Trump calls the ceasefire an "incredible outcome"

President Trump, speaking this afternoon from the tarmac at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Forth Worth, called the US-announced ceasefire in Turkey an "incredible outcome" that saved lives.

"When those guns start shooting, they tend to do things, but I will tell you, on behalf of the United States I want to thank Turkey, I want to thank all of the people that have gotten together and made this happen," Trump said. "I want to thank everybody. And the other thing I want to thank as a group, I want to thank the Kurds, because they were incredibly happy with this solution. This is a solution that really -- well it saved their lives, frankly. It saved their lives."

However, Turkish foreign minister said this is "not a ceasefire" but said they will "pause the operation" in Syria.

About the terms of the ceasefire: As part of that agreement, the US convinced the Syrian Kurds/SDF to dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull troops from the border to appease Turkey.

The US also conducted joint patrols and shared intelligence with the Turkish military as part of that arrangement.

The Kurds complied with the request to pull back and dismantle their fortifications. Turkey opted to invade despite those efforts.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have instructions to stop military operations

A commander with the Turkish-backed, rebel Syrian National Army (also called the Free Syrian Army) tells CNN they have received instructions to stop any military operations and stop advancing in Syria.

“I have now received instructions to stop any operation or advance. But, we are allowed to respond if fired upon by Kurdish units," the commander said.

Pence: The US will "continue to engage" in Syria, but "not militarily"

Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at a news conference on the ceasefire, said the United States will “continue to engage” in Syria, but “not militarily.”

“The President made it clear that we're not going to have military personnel on the ground, but the United States will continue to engage diplomatically, politically and, of course, in humanitarian aid and support to effect all of the people affected in this region,” Pence said.

He said that the President had sent him to the region to “stop the violence.”

“We've achieved that. We've also achieved and opportunity by working with YPG to move out of the area to create more peace and security and stability in that buffer zone, and we're going to be working very earnestly to accomplish that and believe that can be accomplished during the 120-hour period and after which they'll be a permanent cease-fire,” Pence said.

And while Pence said the US did not support the Turkish military offensive, Trump enabled the Turks to enter Syria Sunday when he ordered US troops in Northern Syria to pull out of the region.

This ceasefire is similar to a previous agreement

The proposed ceasefire announced today seems extremely similar to the previous "Security Mechanism" agreement with Turkey earlier this year.

Here's what you need to know about the earlier agreement: As part of that agreement, the US convinced the Syrian Kurds/SDF to dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull fighters troops from the border to appease Turkey. The US also conducted joint patrols and shared intelligence with the Turkish military as part of that arrangement.

The Kurds complied with the request to pull back and dismantle their fortifications. Turkey opted to invade despite those efforts.

Now that the US has pulled out of all locations in northern Syria lest Kobani, it will be nearly impossible for the US to monitor much less enforce a ceasefire.

Asked about the prospects of a ceasefire given the fate of the now defunct security mechanism agreement, a senior US administration official said recently:

“We are very aware that the Turks entered into an agreement with us and they then decided that they would pull out of that agreement and we’re very concerned about that happening again."

"We got exactly what we wanted," senior Turkish official says

Turkey got “exactly what they wanted” out of the meeting with Vice President Mike Pence, a senior Turkish official told CNN today.

Pence announced that the US and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had agreed to a ceasefire in the Turkish military offensive into Syria. Pence said the Turkish operation would end when the YPG forces complete the withdrawal.

The senior Turkish official told CNN the “terrorists” would withdraw from the “safe zone” within five days and that Turkey would enforce the area after that. He also told CNN the “military operation paid off."

Erdoğan is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, around the time the ceasefire would go into effect.

CNN