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Diplomat points to Damascus gaining ground as setting IS up for total defeat

Maria Zakharova has said the government forces might have achieved far more impressive results on this track, if not for the US interference by air

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. Syria’s new military-political realties create conditions for the final defeat of the terrorist groups Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, outlawed in Russia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing.

"Syria’s armed forces have completed the first phase of a large-scale operation in the Syrian desert," she said. "Government forces have approached the Iraqi border."

"There is the certainty the new realities create conditions for the ultimate defeat of the Islamic State and Nusra," she added.

"Apparently, government forces might have achieved far more impressive results on this track, but the US air raids intervened," Zakharova stated.

"The dynamics of the military-political situation in Syria is positive by and large," Zakharova said. " The implementation of the memorandum on zones of de-escalation in Syria of May 4 and, as a consequence, further consolidation of the cessation of hostilities allow Syrian government forces to focus on the struggle against the Islamic State, Nusra and other terrorist groups."

Civilians have been returning to their homes in areas retaken from the militants.

"The authorities of the Damascus area are determined to restore water and power supply and social infrastructures as soon as possible," Zakharova concluded.