MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. Russia’s contingent staying in Syria will continue to help the Syrian army repel attacks by Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) militants, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Deistvuyushchiye Litsva (Political Actors) with Nailya Asker-zade program on the Rossiya-1 television channel on Sunday.
"It has been said that if Islamic State, which has been defeated in what concerns its plans to establish a caliphate but is present in separate groups in the region, becomes active again in Syria, our contingent remaining at the Hmeymim base will, naturally, help the Syria army repel them," Lavrov stressed.
On December 6, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Islamic State had been totally defeated on both banks of the Euphrates in Syria and on December 11 issued an order to withdraw Russian troops from Syria. On December 22, 2017, Russian Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to the president that Russian troops had been withdrawn from Syria, with only three military police battalions, the center for reconciliation of the warring parties and two bases, in Hmeymim and Tartus, remaining in Syria.