Humanitarian Crisis in Syria May Provoke New Refugee Outflow - Russian Lower House Speaker
Delays in resolving the humanitarian crisis in Syria may lead to an increase in the terrorist threat and a new outflow of refugees from the country, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Saturday.
"Delays in resolving the humanitarian situation in Syria may lead to an increase in the terrorist threat in the region and, as a consequence, a new flow of refugees. The catastrophic situation of peaceful Syrian citizens in the territories controlled by the Western coalition is of the greatest concern," Volodin told a conference in Tehran.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries is conducting military operations against the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) in Syria and Iraq.
The coalition's operations in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the United Nations Security Council. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the illegal presence of the United States in Syria was aimed at breaking the sovereign country apart.
On Saturday, the 2nd Conference of the Parliament Speakers of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey on combating terrorism is held in Tehran. The conference is attended by the Russian State Duma delegation headed by Volodin.