The presence of terror groups in the Syrian province of Idlib prevents the region from joining the Syrian ceasefire, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters after the first day of the Astana-12 talks, held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan
NUR-SULTAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2019) - The presence of terror groups in the Syrian province of Idlib prevents the region from joining the Syrian ceasefire, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters after the first day of the Astana-12 talks, held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan."Certainly, the issue of fight against terrorism is still on the agenda, it is being discussed at almost every level, during consultations with all delegations. First of all it relates to the difficult situation in the Idlib province where now more than 90 percent of territory is controlled by terrorist organization Hayat Tahir ash-Sham [banned in Russia]. With these terrorists, obviously, there can be no ceasefire regime, but at the moment there are still many moderate armed groups and also many civilians. Protection of civilian lives is always our priority. So planning and coordinating our next steps always takes into account this factor," Lavrentyev said.
He pointed out that the precise airstrikes on the positions of terrorists were always well-planned and carried out only after a through assessment of possible harm to civilians.
"Such precise strikes will continue," Lavrentyev added.
