U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are reportedly near a deal that would end the fighting in Syria after five bloody years of civil war.

That is, if all parties can be convinced to abide by the agreement.

A ceasefire was agreed to in February, but it collapsed almost immediately.

NBC News:

"As we have all seen now, violations eventually became the norm rather than the exception," Kerry said. Kerry said the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has conducted a continued aerial bombardment with barrel bombs and choline gas.

Kerry said "we have a few narrow issues to be resolved" on an agreement. Much of the discussions have involved how to make a ceasefire stick.

"We are close," Kerry said. "But as I have said to you in other contexts before, we're not going to rush to an agreement until it satisfies fully the needs of the Syrian people and the ability of the international community to address them in ways that can show real results."

Sources close to the negotiations told NBC News the framework of the agreement being discussed includes a nationwide ceasefire and unrestricted access given to humanitarian groups.

The agreement being discussed also includes Russian guarantees that Moscow can and will influence the Syrian regime to abide by a deal, and a commitment to a process that would result in a new Syrian government, the negotiator said.

Some of those involved in the negotiations expressed concern that even if a deal was reached, it would not hold for long.

More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed since the civil war erupted in 2011 and over one million have been injured, according to United Nations estimates.

"We don't want to have a deal for the sake of the deal," Kerry said.

Yeah, Johnny.  That's exactly what you said about the Iran nuclear deal.  How's that workin' out for ya?

Given Kerry's lack of skill as a negotiator, you have to wonder what he's giving away to the Russians.  It's a safe bet that any statement or promise made about Syria by President Obama or Secretary Kerry in the past is no longer valid.  "Assad must go" can be considered inoperative.  Any red lines are equally null and void.  "The Great Syrian Giveaway" is well underway, and the Kurds, the Free Syrian Army, and all other military forces we armed and trained will pay the price.

The rebels still have fight left in them.  But it seems likely that we are about to cut the legs from underneath them.  Any agreement will almost certainly involve ending support for the rebels, leaving them in a precarious position.

In the end, Putin will get exactly what he wanted when he intervened in the civil war: a reliable client in power for the foreseeable future.