Astana, SANA- Russian President’s Special Envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, has affirmed that the withdrawal of the US occupation forces from Syria will help stabilize the situation there.
“Turkey did not inform Russia in advance of conducting its air operation in Syria and Iraq, and this issue will be discussed during the Astana meeting,” Lavrentiev said in statements to reporters ahead of the start of the 19th international meeting on Syria in the Astana format.
He called on the Turkish regime to “exercise restraint in order to prevent an escalation of tension in northern and northeastern Syria and the entire Syrian territories.”
On the cross-border mechanism to deliver humanitarian aid into Syria, Lavrentiev said that “Russia continues to believe that this mechanism is outdated and must be abandoned”, adding: “We will talk to our partners about the status of its work.”
On the Western allegations that the Syrian army with Russian participation targeted areas in the de-escalation zone in Idleb, Lavrentiev said, “The reports of the Western media regarding these allegations are false.”
The Russian representative noted that the West has been trying to exploit the Syrian file as one of the issues to stand in the face of the Russian Federation.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri