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Conflict in Syria

Attempts to blame situation in Syria on Damascus groundless — Russian Foreign Ministry

The ministry recalled that Syria’s Raqqa had been turned into a ghost town as a result of massive bombardments by the US-led coalition

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. The humanitarian situation in Syria is complicated, but the attempts to blame all responsibility for it on the Syrian government are groundless, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary on Thursday.

"We have paid attention to the February 6 statement by the UN agencies represented in Syria concerning the humanitarian situation in a number of the country’s areas, including Afrin, Hasaka, Raqqa, Idlib and East Ghouta containing a call for a month-long pause in hostilities, which would allow for delivering humanitarian assistance and evacuating the injured and the sick," the Foreign Ministry said. "We share the expressed concerns. We have more than once called upon all parties for ending hostilities."

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Russia carries out 1,300 humanitarian missions in Syria in 2017

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed the hope that the aforesaid statement by the humanitarian agencies would not be used for more politically motivated charges against Syria’s legitimate government or for fanning hysteria in the interests of those who have long called for a change of the regime in Damascus.

"For us it is absolutely clear that the situation in each of the mentioned problem zones has its own special features. The attempts to place all responsibility exclusively on Syria’s authorities are groundless," the statement runs.

"Experience shows that many of our Western counterparts are least of all disposed to thoroughly analyze the Syrian context. They know in advance who is to blame for everything," the Foreign Ministry said.

It recalled that Syria’s Raqqa had been turned into a ghost town as a result of massive bombardments by the US-led coalition in the autumn of 2017.

"In that city more than 80% of homes have been ruined. Mine-clearing is an urgent need. It proceeds very slowly," the Foreign Ministry said.

"The intensification of air strikes against Idlib Province is a result of desperate attempts by terrorists to regain the lost positions," the Foreign Ministry said. "The prospects for real de-escalation largely depend on how quickly Turkish monitoring posts are placed along the internal perimeter disengagement line. This work is being actively conducted at the moment."

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