Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Nur Sultan, SANA- At the conclusion of the Final Statement of 16th International Meeting in Astana Format , Russia and Iran reiterated the need to continue combating terrorism in Syria until eliminating it completely, lifting the coercive measures imposed on the country and supporting efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in it.
“Guarantor states of Astana process (Russia, Iran and Turkey) had always focused during the meetings on the need to preserve Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, reach a political settlement to the crisis in the country, and continue the fight against terror organizations until their total elimination, “ said head of the Russian delegation to the meeting Alexander Lavrentiev at the press conference in the in the Kazakh capital, Nur Sultan on Thursday.
Lavrentiev indicated that the current meeting discussed the humanitarian situation in Syria, as the participants stressed on need to lift the coercive economic measures imposed on the country.
“Of course, there must be an end to the use of collective punishment methods against the Syrian people, which we consider defective,” he said.
He reiterated Russia’s refusal to extend the so-called “cross-border aid delivery mechanism’ in Syria” and not to prolong its work because it has exceeded its usefulness, noting that all humanitarian aid must reach the Syrian state to support the reconstruction process and the international community should contribute to the delivery of this aid.
Lavrentiev stressed that “the presence of terrorists cannot be justified, as they must be eliminated fully. This is a clear position , not only of Russia, but of all the guarantor countries, which affirmed at the same time that looting Syria’s resources is rejected because these resources belong to the Syrian people, ” he said in response to SANA reporter’s question about the situation in the de-escalation zone in Idleb and the role of the US and Turkish occupation forces in increasing the suffering of the Syrians by supporting terrorism and stealing the resources of the Syrians.
For his part, Ali Asghar Khaji, head of the Iranian delegation, said in a similar press conference, “In the final statement of the meeting, we stressed on the need to lift the sanctions which exacerbate the Syrians’ suffering and lead to further losses. We also stressed on the continuation of the fight against terrorism.”
He pointed out that Astana track aims to achieve stability in Syria, and this will lead to creating favorable conditions to overcome other issues.
In response to a question by SANA reporter on the Israeli continued aggressions on the Syrian territories, Khaji said that the Zionist entity practices a hostile approach towards Syria, adding that the guarantor countries affirmed rejection of the Israeli attacks and called for their cessation.
Nisreen Othman / Shaza Qriema
