The United Nations on Monday praised a Syria ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and the United States but warned of partition risks in such accords.

Speaking at the start of five days of peace talks in Geneva, UN Syria envoy Staffan De Mistura said that the ceasefire in southwest Syria was by large holding.

“We consider it a significant development and a step forward into the de-escalation of an area which was becoming increasingly a potentially dangerous flashpoint. The agreement, which has started as you know, is basically broadly holding quite well. I know, in all these agreements, there is a period of adjustment. We are watching that very carefully, there have been incidents at the very beginning, there have been some sporadic incidents, but we can still say and we believe that it has fairly good chances of working out,” Mistura said.

He expressed optimism that the deal could keep on holding after coming into effect on Sunday, and influence positively the discussions in the Swiss city.

The deal is the first peacemaking effort of the war by the U.S. government under President Donald Trump.

Mistura said he didn’t, however, expect any breakthrough from the talks in Geneva, rather “incremental progress” which could in turn positively influence the Astana process, as well as bilateral and multilateral dialogue.

Reuters