Upper house grants permission to president to use Russian troops in Syria

MOSCOW, September 30. /TASS/. The Federation Council has granted permission to the Russian president to use the country’s troops in Syria, Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov told journalists on Wednesday. "The Federation Council unanimously supported the president’s request - 162 votes in favor [of granting permission]," Ivanov said. No one abstained or voted against. Ivanov said all the social and financial issues concerning the support of those Russian servicemen who will participate in the operation will be solved and the respective decisions have been already approved. Under Russia’s Constitution, the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, is responsible for deciding on the possibility of using Russia’s Armed Forces outside the country. Last time, the Federation Council used this right on March 1 when it gave permission to the president to use Russia’s forces on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of the situation there. On June 25, 2014 the upper house canceled the respective resolution upon the request of President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decision came amid the launch of trilateral talks on resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine. Read more