American Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, have announced they’ve agreed on the delivery of desperately needed help to beseiged cities in Syria – followed by a cease-fire that aims to clear the way for renewed peace talks.

Kerry says the target is to implement the cease-fire in a week – but it will not apply to the Islamic State group and the Al-Nusra Front.

A working group is to start meeting immediately in Geneva – to oversee the delivery of humanitarian aid to beseiged areas in Syria.