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Russia to offer US-led coalition to jointly clear mines in Syria’s Palmyra — source

According to the source, the Russian Defense Ministry hopes that "at least some members, if not the entire coalition, will support the Russian initiative"

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry will propose to the defense ministries from the countries of the US-led anti-terror coalition in Syria to jointly clear mines in Palmyra recently liberated from Islamic State terrorists, a military and diplomatic source told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Defense Ministry of Russia will soon propose to the US-led coalition to take part in the mine-clearing operation in Palmyra," the source said.

According to the source, such a proposal can be transferred by the Russian Center for the Syrian Ceasefire to its US counterpart in Amman or through Russian representatives in the operational center for the ceasefire of the International Syria Support Group in Geneva.

As the source explained, the Russian Defense Ministry hopes that "at least some members, if not the entire coalition, will support the Russian initiative."

Chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Monday that Russia was bringing combat engineers with robots and mine-sniffing dogs to Syria. He invited other countries to join Russia’s mine-clearing effort.

The Syrian army command reported about the liberation of the ancient town of Palmyra on Sunday. The operation to liberate the town on the UNESCO World Heritage list was conducted with the support of Russian warplanes and special forces. Military advisers from Russia also took part in it. Militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) seized Palmyra in May 2015.