US special envoy for Syria says the agreement covers areas where Turkey already entered

James Jeffrey, the US Special Envoy for Syria, said the agreement that pauses Turkey’s military operation will be focused on “those areas where the Turks had penetrated into northeast Syria."

The Kurdish forces who once allied with the US in the fight against ISIS will withdraw over the coming days, he said.

It still remains unclear how this agreement will be implemented, and what the situation in that area will look like in the future.

“The Turkish army has seized a great deal of territory in a very short period of time,” Jeffrey told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Jeffrey also acknowledged the difficulty the Kurds face in the wake of the agreement.

Asked about the Turkish government’s assertion that the agreement was not a ceasefire agreement, Jeffrey said “we use the word ceasefire, the Turks do not because it's not in the agreement. What we mean is, and we define this very carefully, a ceasefire is no forward movement of troops on the ground and no military action other than self-defense."

From CNN's Jamie Crawford, Ryan Browne and Jennifer Hansler