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Russian envoy warns that Syria won’t cope with refugee dilemma without global support

The global community must lend assistance to Damascus to resolve this humanitarian issue, Alexander Lavrentyev said

BEIRUT, July 26./TASS/. Russia’s Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev has urged the international community to help Syria return its nationals home.

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Russia urges EU to create conditions for Syrian refugees’ return

"Syria won’t be able to cope on its own with the refugee predicament, it won’t have enough financial resources after going through this civil war," Lavrentyev told reporters after his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun in Beirut on Thursday. According to the Russian envoy, the global community must lend assistance to Damascus to resolve this humanitarian issue.

Over the past few months, the Syrian army has won a string of major victories over IS extremists outside Damascus and in the south of the country, winning back most of its territory. The issue of returning refugees home has surfaced to the forefront after the Russian-US summit in Helsinki on July 16. Earlier this week, the subject of bringing home the refugees was at the center of attention of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov during their unannounced visits to Israel, Germany and France.

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