Russia, Syria likely to step up interparliamentary dialogue - top lawmaker

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. Moscow and Damascus may soon increase bilateral interparliamentary contacts, a senior Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov told TASS on Thursday. "The contacts [with Syrian lawmakers] were not suspended. I do not rule out that now there will be a new phase, a new stage and we may make these contacts broader and more regular, "said Pushkov, who heads the foreign affairs committee of the Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma. Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov, who coordinates a group of deputies for protecting Christian values, said on Wednesday that he planned to go on a humanitarian mission to the war-torn Syria in the near future. Earlier on Wednesday, the upper house of the Russian parliament unanimously gave the president approval to use the Russian Armed Forces abroad. Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov noted "it was solely the operation of the Russian Air Force" against Islamic State terrorist group in Syria at the request of President Bashar Assad. Russia’s Air and Space Force planes started dealing pinpoint strikes against the positions of the Islamic State group in Syria on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said that Russia’s troops would not take part in the ground operations. Read more