Any US Involvement in Monitoring De-Escalation Zones in Syria Should Be Acceptable for Damascus: Lavrov

FAIRBANKS ,United States- Russia will welcome any contribution by the United States to the memorandum on establishing de-escalation zones in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters. He did not rule out the possibility of US involvement in monitoring these zones but noted that this should be agreed with all parties concerned and should be acceptable for Damascus in the first place, Itar Tass reported.

“We will welcome any contribution by the United States to the implementation of this concept,” Russia’s top diplomat said when asked whether the issue was discussed during the talks in the United States.

Lavrov noted that a meeting of experts representing Russia, Turkey and Iran, that is, the countries acting as the guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria would be held in 10-12 days. “The experts will discuss specific parameters of these zones’ operation, including buffer zones around them, observation posts and checkpoints,” he explained.

 “The memorandum signed in Astana envisages that observers from third countries could be involved in efforts to ensure the operation of the de-escalation zones. Of course, that should be agreed with all parties concerned. Above all, this should be acceptable for the Syrian government,” the minister noted. “We are holding contacts with the potential participants in this process, and we hope we will be able to discuss that in greater detail with our partners,” he concluded.

Russian Defense Ministry says Situation in Syria’s de-escalation zones stable

Meantime, the Russian Center for Coordination and Reconciliation said in a bulletin on Friday that the Situation in de-escalation zones in Syria is assessed as stable.

Over the past 24 hours, nine shelling incidents have been reported in the provinces of Damascus, Hama and Latakia. “Most cases of indiscriminate firing from small arms have been registered in the areas controlled by terrorists of the Jabhat al-Nusra and Deash.

The Turkish monitors have registered four cases of ceasefire violations in the provinces of Homs, Damascus and Daraa.

Trump says his talks with Lavrov excellent

In Washington, The US President Donald Trump said in an interview last night with American NBC Channel that his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were excellent and they dealt with the situation in Syria and Ukraine.

“Our talks were excellent. They focused on Syria and Ukraine…This dialogue may help reduce the number of the killed and at the end attain peace,” Trump said, hailing such meetings. 

H.M