MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Western diplomats deceived Jordan about the time members of the White Helmets organization evacuated from Syria would spend in the country, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats Ilya Rogachev said in an interview with TASS.
"When the Syrian Armed Forces supported by the Russian Airspace Force were conducting a mop up operation in the southwestern de-escalation zone, including a section of the Golan Heights, our Western counterparts decided in July 2018 to evacuate members of the White Helmets quasi-humanitarian organization from Syria and provide them temporary shelter in refugee camps in Jordan, while they were expected to move to Western countries that supported them, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands and France," he said.
Rogachev pointed out that "this questionable operation involved a respected international institution, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which actually evacuated the White Helmets from Syria to Jordan." "And just like the Russian Foreign Ministry said, the UNHCR’s support for the provocative activities of the White Helmets was a huge mistake at best and at worst, it was an example of political bias and disregard for the principles of neutrality, independence and impartiality," the senior Russian diplomat pointed out.
"It seems, it was Western diplomats that made the UN agency and the Jordanian authorities believe that the White Helmets would not stay in Jordan for long. However, they are still there," he noted.
According to Rogachev, the evacuation operation says much in itself. "First, it shows who is the actual puppet master, who makes decisions concerning the White Helmets, such as the one we are discussing, which concerns the possibility for them to end their activities and scatter around the world," he explained. "Second, everything was going smoothly until the very last moment, which proves that the organization is controlled by some forces," he added.