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Syrians ‘won't get a dime’ of help: Moscow, Damascus say US won’t deliver on aid promises

A joint statement read that some $400mln had been earmarked by the US side for Syria’s assistance

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russian and Syrian inter-agency coordination headquarters believe that Syrian citizens won’t receive a dime out of the $400mln assistance allocated by Washington, they said in a joint statement released on Tuesday.

"Out of nearly $400mln earmarked by the US side for Syria’s assistance, the Syrian people won’t get a dime," chiefs of the Russian and Syrian coordination headquarters, Mikhail Mizintsev and Hussein Makhlouf, said in the statement.

This sum is distributed "between the United Nations’ agencies and NGOs," as well as the White Helmets group, which is notorious for staging false flag chemical attacks in Syria.

Earlier, Russia and Syria had called on the UN to solve the problem of the Rukban refugee camp and tell the US that such sites must not exist. The Russian Defense Ministry recalled that the US forces’ command in Al-Tanf, where the Rukban camp is located, impedes the refugees’ exit, while the militants are holding them, demanding big sums for leaving the site.

The Rukban refugee camp emerged on the Syrian-Jordanian border in 2014 after Amman closed its border due to security and economic concerns. The area, which is controlled by illegal armed groups, is facing a severe humanitarian crisis. The camp is located within the 55-km zone around the US Al-Tanf base.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow last week that the US bears full responsibility for the fate of the Syrians remaining on the occupied territories. According to Lavrov, during the aid delivery full security and transparency should be ensured and steps should be taken so that the cargo is handed over to the refugees rather than members of illegal armed groups.