Washington demands Syria cease-fire now, not in three weeks

DEBKAfile: The US opposes Russia's proposal for a cease-fire in Syria starting March 1, namely in three weeks, which it made on Tuesday night. Washington is demanding an immediate cease-fire but Moscow does not agree.
Our sources report that US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Munich on Thursday morning in an effort to reach a compromise on the date of the cease-fire. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir is participating in the meeting as representative of the Syrian rebel groups supported by Riyadh.  
Obama administration officials had a number of reservations about the Russian proposal after they received it, according to unconfirmed Western reports. DEBKAfile: If the proposal is accepted, the Moscow-backed campaign by the Syrian army, Hizballah and Iran will have just 18 days to crush the rebellion in northern and southern Syria.