Lavrov: US Welcomes Creation of Syria De-Escalation Zones at Astana Talks

MOSCOW- Washington has welcomed the memorandum on creating four de-escalation zones in Syria signed in the recent round of the Syria settlement talks held in Astana that took place on May 3-4, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Mir television channel in an interview, Sputnik reported.

Lavrov said “it is not a coincidence that the United States has welcomed the result of the Astana meeting — an agreement to create de-escalation zones,” , because according to Lavrov “the United States itself has called for stopping fight in the areas of clashes as to create conditions for the safety of civilians.

 The city of Astana has already held four rounds of negotiations between the Syrian government and armed opposition in order to settle the conflict in the Middle Eastern country. The most recent round took place on May 3-4.

The four zones of de-escalation in Syria include the province of Idlib and seven other regions. Any clashes must stop within the zones.

The memorandum took effect on May 6.

Ryabkov: US Has All Information on Syria De-Escalation Memorandum

Meantime, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Sputnik on Saturday that Russia and other countries-guarantors of memorandum on the de-escalation zones in Syria have provided the United States with all the information on the document.

 On Friday, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said that the Russian military had not communicated the US side and he was not aware of the issues related to the memorandum, such as ban on flights of the US aircraft in the de-escalation zones in western Syria. At the same time, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that the flights by US-led coalition aircraft over the de-escalation zones were being discussed by military officials.

“As for military and technical aspects of the issue I can confirm the words that have already been repeatedly voiced, including by the officials from the defense ministry: we have suspended the effect of the deconflicting memorandum after the US strike on the Syrian Sha’irat airbase.”

However a certain exchange of information has continued depending on the situation. With regard to the decisions and agreements that had been worked out in Astana and formalized in the relevant memorandum: a high-ranking representative of the US Department of State [Stuart Jones] was in Astana, participated in meetings and had been provided with the information to the full extent,” Ryabkov said.

H.M