Russia's Bogdanov, Syrian Opposition Discuss Situation In Arab Country - Foreign Ministry

Russia's Bogdanov, Syrian Opposition Discuss Situation in Arab Country - Foreign Ministry

Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed with the delegation of the Syrian Kurdish National Council (KNC) the situation in the Arab country, as well as the progress made in the implementation of the recent Russian-Turkish memorandum on Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2019) Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed with the delegation of the Syrian Kurdish National Council (KNC) the situation in the Arab country, as well as the progress made in the implementation of the recent Russian-Turkish memorandum on Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Bogdanov received the KNC delegation made up of a Kurdish member of the Syrian Constitutional Committee (SCC) and two more Kurdish politicians.

"During the conversation, the situation in Syria was looked into in detail, with emphasis on the situation in the northeastern regions of the country and the progress in the implementation of the Russian-Turkish memorandum of understanding adopted in Sochi on October 22," the statement read.

An exchange of views was held between the parties on issues of further advancing the political settlement process in Syria on the basis of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, including the results of two SCC meetings held in Geneva earlier this year.

Bogdanov also stressed the need to take into account the interests of all ethnic and religious groups of the Syrian population.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of the Kurdish militia, labeled as terrorists by Ankara, and the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), on October 9. On October 17, Turkey agreed with the United States on a 120-hour ceasefire to allow the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters from the Syrian-Turkish border.

As the ceasefire came to an end, Turkey and Russia signed on October 22 their memorandum, setting conditions for the peaceful withdrawal and envisioning joint patrols to ensure the implementation of the agreement. Since then, joint patrols are conducted regularly by the Russian military police and the Turkish troops.