Russia Received No Information From US on Positions of Terrorist Organizations in Syria

MOSCOW- Moscow has never received any maps or coordinates from the US concerning any terrorist organizations in Syria, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Sunday.  

“The United States could not even fulfill their obligations under the US-Russian agreements,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, adding that “Russia has not received any maps, objects’ coordinates or any other intel on any terrorist organization in Syria, from Daesh to al-Nusra”, Sputnik reported.

Commenting on US State Department spokesperson John Kirby’s statement about the humanitarian pause in Syria, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that it underlines the difference between Russia’s and the US’ understanding of the pause’s use.

 State Department spokesperson Kirby said Friday that the US considered that civilians in Aleppo do not benefit from humanitarian pauses introduced by Russia.

“Such statements show that Moscow and the State Department have a different understanding of the ‘use’ of the humanitarian pauses,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

He stressed that for Russia humanitarian pauses were a possibility to deliver aid to people in areas ravaged by fighting.

“Throughout the whole anti-terrorist operation in Syria we are paying a special attention to the warring sides’ reconciliation and delivery of humanitarian aid to all the Syrians,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov added.

“In the last few months alone, [Russia] delivered more than 100 tons of the most necessary cargos to Aleppo — food, medicine and necessities. All the civilians of Aleppo received this aid, without any distinction between the Western and Eastern parts. During this time, the State Department did not deliver a single bread crumb to the Syrians it supposedly cares so much about,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov concluded.

H.M