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Russian truce center delivers humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria

Russia’s center for reconciliation of warring sides in Syria has delivered 4.2 tons of humanitarian aid to residents of the town of Et Tell in the Damascus province

MOSCOW, March 8. /TASS/. Russia’s center for reconciliation of warring sides in Syria has delivered 4.2 tons of humanitarian aid to residents of the town of Et Tell in the Damascus province, mainly foodstuffs, the center said on Tuesday in a report posted on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website.

"Infrastructure is being restored in the localities that concluded agreements to end fighting," the report said. "In the village of Sneasel (Homs province) water supplies have been resumed and work to resume energy supplies is drawing to a close."

In the Daraye district (Damascus province) the area is cleared from mines and hazardous objects are destroyed for humanitarian purposes and for local civilians’ security.

According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed over 250,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.

On February 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama adopted a joint statement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria on February 27, obliging both sides to influence different political forces in the country to achieve a ceasefire.

The statement points out that the cessation of hostilities is to be applied to all parties to the Syrian conflict but for Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State) and Jabhat al-Nusra (both are banned in Russia) "or other terrorist organizations designated by the UN Security Council." The strikes on these groups will be continued.

On February 23, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the creation of a coordination center at the Russian Hmeimim air base with the aim to reconcile the warring sides within Syria. The center was set up in line with agreements reached by Russia and the United States to facilitate the negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition and to organize humanitarian deliveries.

Russia’s aviation grouping has been delivering air strikes against the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria since September 30 at the request of Syria’s President Bashar Assad.