We welcome the agreement reached in the UN Security Council today and the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2401 aimed at achieving a ceasefire. It is now vital to implement this ceasefire comprehensively and without further delay. We thus call on all parties to the conflict in Syria as follows: there must now actually be a lasting cessation of hostilities, thus enabling humanitarian assistance to be delivered immediately and freely. We urgently need to be able to evacuate people who are seriously ill or have been injured, as well as those in particular need of protection, such as children. We urgently need access to families in need. Every minute counts. Every life matters.

It is of the utmost importance to alleviate the immediate and dreadful suffering. However, a political settlement is the only way to bring about a lasting improvement in the situation.

This respite must therefore now also be used to achieve progress in the political process in Geneva.