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Putin likely to highlight Syria problem, fight against IS in UN speech

Kremlin spokesman says the Russian leader would not talk about the military aspect of Russia’s cooperation with Syria as the Foreign Ministry had already made the necessary comments on this score

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely raise the Syria problem and the fight against the Islamic State in his speech at the United Nations Organization, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"It is obvious that most speeches that will be made from the rostrum of the [UN] General Assembly will highlight the Syria situation and the IS problem," Peskov said.

"It can be presumed with a high degree of probability that President Putin will also touch upon this problem," the Kremlin spokesman said.

The Kremlin spokesman said he would not talk about the military aspect of Russia’s cooperation with Syria as the Russian Foreign Ministry had already made the necessary comments on this score.

"This has already been done by the Foreign Ministry. So why do we constantly need to dismiss or confirm each statement?" he said.

In its statements, the Russian Foreign Ministry "explained which military specialists were there [in Syria] who dealt with maintaining special equipment supplied to Syria absolutely in accordance with international law," the Kremlin spokesman said.

When asked about whether Russians were taking part in battles in Syria, the Kremlin spokesman also declined to give an answer.

"This all has already been said and I don’t want to repeat," he said, advising journalists to read the Russian Foreign Ministry’s explanations carefully.