Lavrentiev in a press conference in Astana:

Alexander Lavrentiev, Head of the Russian delegation to the 19th international meeting in the Astana format confirmed during a press conference:

• The Turkish aggressions against Syria have escalated the situation in the entire Middle East region.
• The position of the United States is destructive in northeastern Syria, as it provides the separatist militias with weapons and equipment.
• The Turkish attacks on Syrian territories coincided with our meetings in Astana and affected the progress of the talks.
• We call on the international community to help the return of Syrian refugees to their country, away from any politicization.
•  The West is trying to exploit the crisis in Syria as one of the issues facing Russia, the matter which should push the international community must work to unify and coordinate joint efforts to stabilize the situation in Syria.
• We discussed many issues related to the social and economic situation, and stressed the need to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria.
• The United Nations Special Rapporteur Elina Dohan visited Syria and prepared a report on the negative effects of the sanctions, in which she demanded their lifting because they had left devastating effects on various sectors, including social and economic, and the international organization must study this report and take appropriate decisions in this regard.
• There is a need for the international community to contribute effectively and without politicization to the return of Syrian refugees to their country, and to implement early recovery projects to improve the economic situation in Syria, pointing out that the West is not implementing its commitments in this regard and there are doubts about implementing these projects, and therefore we will establish a “mechanism” at the end of next month Bringing aid across the border” and discussing the possibility of extending Security Council Resolution 2642.
• Regarding the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, we have affirmed our positions in the joint statement, and we absolutely reject these strikes, which not only destroy infrastructure, but also kill civilians. These behaviors are illegal and never comply with any international standards.
• Russia welcomes China’s participation as an observer in the Astana format, because this participation will be very useful in terms of helping to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria and Beijing’s contribution to the reconstruction process.
• Moscow supports the accession of countries others to the Astana formula as an observer.

 Raghda Sawas