Russia insists on closing Turkish-Syrian border — FM

MUSCAT, February 3. /TASS/. Russia will submit its proposals on the ceasefire in Syria during a meeting of the Syria Support Group in Munich, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"As far as a particular aspect of the ceasefire is concerned, we have our own purely pragmatic considerations on that score to make sure that it is put into practice," he said. "We discussed this with the United States, a more detailed conversation will take place in Munich at a meeting of the Syria Support Group on February 11."

"The key point for the ceasefire to work is a task of blocking illegal trafficking across the Turkish-Syrian border, which supports the militants," he said. "Without closing the border it is difficult to expect the ceasefire to take place."

Moscow sees no ground to stop Russian Aerospace Force operation in Syria

According to Lavrov, Russia sees no reason at the moment to stop the operation of its Aerospace Force in Syria.

"The aim of the operation is to defeat the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nursa terrorist groups [outlawed in Russia - TASS]. I see no reason why the Russian Aerospace Forces operation in Syria should be stopped until terrorists are defeated," he said.

Russia began the operation against Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria on September 30, 2015, at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.