Russia, China Stress Need to Completely Uproot Terrorism from Syria

MOSCOW, (ST)- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Chinese Special Envoy for Syria Xie Xiaoyan stressed during a meeting on Wednesday the need to completely uproot terrorism from the entire Syrian territory. They urged the international community to spare no effort as to help displaced Syrians return home, support the country’s reconstruction and guarantee Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The two senior diplomats renewed their countries’ firm support for speeding up the process of attaining political settlement of the crisis in Syria on the basis of international Resolution No. 2254, the statement said.

 Bogdanov and Xiaoyan commended coordination between Moscow and Beijing on political settlement in Syria.

“Satisfaction with the effectiveness of close foreign policy coordination on Syria within the framework of the strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing was expressed. Russia and China’s continued support for efforts to reach a prompt political settlement of the crisis in Syria on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 was confirmed,” the statement made it clear.

UN Security Council Resolution 2254, adopted in December 2015, affirmed that the Syrians themselves are the ones who must decide their own future without any foreign interference.

Hamda Mustafa