DAMASCUS: Syria was due on Thursday to announce whether it will accept a ceasefire during a Muslim holiday this weekend, but rebels and Washington remained wary of any commitment from Damascus.

Russia backed up peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi’s assertion on Wednesday that the Damascus regime was ready to observe a truce during the four-day holiday of Eid al-Adha that begins on Friday, while rebels said that they would ceasefire if regime troops did so first.

A truce, if observed by both sides, would mark a significant breakthrough in the 19-month conflict, in which more than 34,000 people have died, according to figures of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Russia’s United Nations (UN) envoy Vitaly Churkin said that his government had had “indications that they [the Syrian government] are accepting the proposal of Mr. Brahimi.”

Brahimi has been urging such a ceasefire initiative for weeks, as the violence escalated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 142 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday, 20 of them civilians including women and children massacred in Douma, a rebel-held town near Damascus.

Brahimi told the UN Security Council a truce would be a “small step” and he was unsure if it would hold. He appealed for unanimous support, warning the 15-nation council that a new failure among its divided members would cause the 19-month civil war to spread.

The Security Council is bitterly divided over the conflict, with Western nations pressing for action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, while Russia and China consistently resist such moves.

However, it did agree to back Bra-himi’s ceasefire call and also urged Syria’s neighbors to “use their influence” on the parties to push for an end to the conflict.

Susan Rice, US ambassador to UN, expressed doubts about Syria’s commitment to a truce, in comments released after Brahimi’s briefing. Meanwhile, the rebel Free Syrian Army said that it was for Damascus to stop fighting first.