Lavrentiev: Fighting Terrorism in Syria Continues Till Eradicating It Completely

ASTANA– Head of the Russian delegation to Astana talks, Russian President’s Special Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev stressed that combating terrorism in Syria will continue till full eradication of terrorist organizations in the country, especially Jabhat al-Nusra and Daesh (ISIS), SANA reported.

Lavrentiev made his remarks in a press briefing on the sidelines of the 11th round of Astana meetings.

He pointed out that today’s meeting discussed the situation across the whole Syrian territory, not only in the de-escalation zone in Idleb, adding that the participants had a consensus that the situations in South Syria, on the borders with Iraq and other Syrian areas are getting better.

 “All parties have confirmed unconditional commitment to the achieved agreements on Idleb, including the establishment of a demilitarized zone,” the Russian diplomat added.

Lavrentiev noted that Idleb is home to 15,000 Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, stressing Russia’s readiness to provide all possible help to restore stability to the province including offering support to the Syrian army.

He renewed Russia’s call on the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to immediately dispatch its experts to investigate into the toxic chemical attack launched by terrorist groups against Aleppo.

Lavrentiev said that the talks touched upon the situation in the eastern parts of Syria, adding that the illegitimate presence of US troops raises Russia’s concerns since Washington continues to use the fight against terrorism as a pretext to justify its presence.

The Russian diplomat underlined the Syrian government’s efforts to provide appropriate conditions for the return of displaced Syrians, adding that thousands of people have returned and the number of those who are willing to return is increasing.

He stated that the guarantor states (Russia, Iran and Turkey) are exerting sincere efforts to form the committee of discussing the constitution as soon as possible.

Lavrentiev added that it is too early to talk about tangible results, but he was optimistic about the possibility of finding solutions in agreement.