Russian diplomat says Moscow stands for reinforcing Syrian ceasefire

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Russia is keen to continue the work aimed at reinforcing the Syrian ceasefire, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Monday at the Sixth Conference of the Valdai Discussion Forum’s Middle East Dialogue. "Since Russia, Turkey and Iran have common interests concerning the war on terror, last December we decided to cooperate in order to facilitate agreements between the Syrian government and the armed opposition, seeking to pool efforts to fight against the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra (both terror groups are outlawed in Russia)," the Russian diplomat said addressing the conference dubbed "The Middle East: When Will Tomorrow Come?" When speaking on the situation "on the ground" in Syria, Bodganov pointed out that "the ceasefire launched in most parts of Syria on December 30, 2016, which was guaranteed by Russian and Turkey, joined by Iran, has led to diminishing violence." "The ceasefire zone has been expanded when the so-called South Front group of the armed opposition joined the agreement guaranteed by Russian and Jordan," the Russian presidential envoy said. "We are keen to continue the work aimed at reinforcing the ceasefire, we plan to employ the Joint Operational Group comprising Russia, Iran and Turkey, which was set up at the January 23-24 meeting in Astana, representatives of Syria and other stakeholders may also take part in this work." Read more