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Conflict in Syria

Shelling of Russian embassy attempt to make Russia disrupt humanitarian pause — lawmaker

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists fired two mortar shells at the Russian Embassy in Damascus on Friday

Russian Embassy in Damascus Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Embassy in Damascus

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The mortar shelling of the Russian Embassy in Damascus represents an attempt to provoke Russia to disrupt the humanitarian pause, Frants Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Security and Defense, said.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists fired two mortar shells at the Russian Embassy in Damascus on Friday. One shell exploded near the entrance to the diplomatic mission. No one was injured, but material damage has been inflicted on the building, and four cars were damaged as well. Fire was opened from the Jobar district which remains under control of anti-government forces.

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Moscow wants to see international reaction at Russian Embassy shelling in Damascus

"I am confident that the shelling of the Russian embassy by militants is an attempt to provoke Russia, to disrupt the humanitarian pause," Klintsevich said. He added that the provocation will fail because Russia will continue to observe the humanitarian pause "until the very end." "There can be no option of making any concessions to terrorists. This is both a political and military decision, a decision from the position of force," he noted.

The decision to extend the humanitarian pause in Aleppo should be considered in the framework of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Valdai discussion club, he stressed. "Russia does everything possible to ease the tensions of confrontations in any ‘hot spot’ of the planet," Klintsevich continued adding that "by this decision, Putin extend a hand to US to cooperate not only in Syria, but in the Middle East as a whole."

On Friday Putin said that resumption of Russian Aerospace Defense Forces’ airstrikes in Aleppo is unreasonable and ordered to extend the humanitarian pause in this region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters commenting on the address of the Russian General Staff to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief with a request to allow resumption of Russian airstrikes at terrorists in east Aleppo.

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