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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad calls the agreement on the demilitarized zone for the Idlib province, concluded between Russia and Turkey, a "temporary measure".
According to state-controlled Syrian media, Assad told a Baath party meeting on Sunday that the agreement last month aimed at "stemming the bloodbath".
But Assad has not ruled out any military attack in the future, saying Syria's goal is to restore government control over the country as a whole.
He described as "hysterical" the Western opposition to what seemed to be preparing an imminent attack on Idlib.
The province of Idlib, in northern Syria, on the border with Turkey, is the last major region of Syria still in rebel hands.
Syrian forces were massed along the border, ready for what seemed like an inevitable military operation against the rebels before Russia, which supports Syria, and Turkey, which generally supports rebel forces, agree to create a zone buffer.
A spokesman for a rebel coalition said Sunday that rebel forces had begun withdrawing their heavy weapons but would remain on defensive positions in case of emergency.
Observers have said that a Syrian attack on Idlib would endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and result in a deadly humanitarian catastrophe.
