Lavrov said on Monday that the United States are refusing to implement its agreement with Russia on sorting members of what the US calls “moderate opposition” from al-Nusra Frontterrorists in Aleppo
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that the United States are refusing to implement its agreement with Russia on sorting members of what the US calls “moderate opposition” from al-Nusra Front (Qaeda branch in the Levant) terrorists in Aleppo, in a bid to prevent targeting terrorists there.
In a joint press conference with Ethiopian counterpart Tedros Adhanom, Lavrov said that Russia and the US had agreed on Washington using its influence to withdraw what it calls “good opposition” from Aleppo so that nothing hinders the targeting of al-Nusra terrorists, but the US has yet to fulfill its part of this agreement.
He pointed out that Russia is gathering information on the cooperation between al-Nusra and groups that announced their joining the cessation of hostilities agreement and this information will be submitted to the Security Council so that it can amend the list of terrorist organizations.
The Minister asserted that all armed factions that are working with ISIL and al-Nusra are terrorist groups and cannot be part of the cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria, adding that US State Secretary John Kerry’s talk of dividing Syria to areas of military influence between Russia and the US is superficial, because the goal is fighting terrorism, not dividing the country into areas of influence.
He pointed out that Moscow and Washington agreed upon a mechanism for monitoring the cessation of hostilities via the Russia military base in Hmeimim which coordinated with American military leaders in Amman, Jordan, with Lavrov calling on Washington to be candid and honest about the existence of this coordination.
Lavrov also stressed that the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva will continue in spite of the suspended participation of some opposition groups, adding that Turkey has a decisive influence on the “Riyadh opposition” delegation.
