Russia welcomes UN stance on Damascus
Shelling of Syrian capital has led to many deaths among civilians
MOSCOW appreciated that the UN Security Council condemned the shelling of the Syrian capital of Damascus which has led to many deaths among civilians, the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
Moscow expected foreign supporters of Syrian anti-government armed groups to ensure the ceasefire and enable safe humanitarian passage in the Middle Eastern nation, the ministry said.
On Saturday, the council unanimously adopted resolution 2401 that urged all parties to the conflict to immediately stop all clashes and adhere to a long-term humanitarian pause on the entire territory of Syria in order to ensure the safe and unhindered humanitarian aid supplies as well as medical evacuation of those injured.
“For the first time in many years, the UN Security Council did condemn shelling of Damascus, which hit the Russian diplomatic mission several times and which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and caused significant damage to civil infrastructure,” the ministry said.
It also appreciated that the UNSC noted Russia’s, Turkey’s and Iran’s efforts in guaranteeing a ceasefire in the war-torn country. Russia would work to stop any attempts at fuelling “hysteria” directed against either Russia or Syria, as well as attempts to undermine the Syrian settlement process, said the ministry.
“Having backed the UNSC resolution, we will decisively thwart attempts to fuel anti-Russian and anti-Syrian hysteria and undermine the political settlement process which was reinvigorated by the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi,” the ministry said.
Russia, as one of the Syrian ceasefire guarantor states, would continue working with all the sides of the Syrian civil war to settle the conflict.
Meanwhile pro-Turkish forces had seized a major part of the Kurdish town of Jindires in Afrin amid Turkey’s ongoing military operation in Syria’s northern region, a source in Syrian pro-government militias told Sputnik yesterday.
“Armed groups backed by Turkey and supported by the aviation and artillery have seized a major part of the territory of Jindires in Afrin region,” the source said.
The town of Jindires in Afrin’s southwest is one of the biggest Kurdish settlements in the region.
On January 20, the Turkish General Staff announced the beginning of the Operation Olive Branch, aimed against certain Kurdish forces in Afrin. Ankara considers the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Kurdish political party in northern Syria, and Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and several other countries, including the US. The operation has been conducted jointly with the Free Syrian Army forces.