Russia: Turkey has not fulfilled its obligations towards the de-escalation zone in Idlib
Moscow (ST) – Russian President’s Special Envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, confirmed that Turkey has not fulfilled its obligations related to the de-escalation zone in Idlib, and that it must fulfil its commitments in this regard.
In an interview with TASS, Lavrentiev pointed out that the President of the Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has not mention anything about the implementation of the obligations of the Turkish side, with regard to Idlib, especially since the terrorist organizations did not withdraw as stipulated in the commitments.
On the cross-border aid mechanism in Syria, Lavrentiev indicated that Russia believes that this mechanism has exceeded its usefulness and must be halted, stressing that all aid must come through legal channels, i.e. through the Syrian state, and then be distributed over the entire Syrian territory and not through a cross-border mechanism.
With regard to the Syrian reconstruction process, Lavrentiev expressed his country’s desire to involve the Chinese side in this process, pointing out that the positive experience of Russian-Chinese cooperation can extend to Syria to support the Syrian economy.
Lavrentiev indicated that Russia provides every possible assistance within the limits of its capabilities, whether in terms of humanitarian assistance to the Syrians or in economic support projects for the country, such as building new power generation facilities.
Lavrentiev headed the Russian delegation to the 19th international meeting on Syria in the Astana format. The guarantor countries affirmed in their closing statement their firm commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence and unity, and their rejection of separatist plans aimed at undermining Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, stressing the need to continue combating terrorism and lifting unilateral coercive economic measures.
Najla Khoury