ST PETERSBURG, October 14. /TASS/. The international community should ponder over Syria’s post-war revival, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday opening the Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in St. Petersburg.
"I suppose that the global community should begin mulling over the state’s post-war reconstruction, over how, what sort of aid and how much of aid should be provided for to that and other regional countries, how to assist more effectively in their social and economic growth and the strengthening of government institutions, including the legislative branch," Putin said.
The international meeting on Syria in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana sealed a deal on four de-escalation zones in Syria, he reminded. Those zones "create conditions for implementation of Resolution 2254 of the United Nations Security Council on the basis on direct dialogue between the government and opposition and for joint efforts with the aim to eliminate the terrorist hotbed as soon as possible so that peace can set in and Syria’s integrity can be preserved," the Russian president said.
Russia does its utmost to stabilize the military and political situation in Syria, Putin said.
"Over the past two year, the area controlled by terrorists have shrunk, lots of large populated localities have been liberated and the terrorists’ infrastructure have been considerable damaged," he said. "I would underline that in Syria we operate at request of the country’s government and strictly in compliance with international law."
De-escalation zones in Syria
At the Astana meeting on Syria in May, the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire (Russia, Iran and Turkey) signed a memorandum on setting up de-escalation zones in the war-torn country. Starting from May 6, military activities and aircraft flights in the de-escalation zones have been banned. The document’s term is six months, with an optional further extension.