MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov endorsed the outcome of the Moscow meetings on Syria last week between the foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
In the phone conversation, the sides continued exchanging views on the joint efforts on launching an efficient political process on settling the Syrian crisis, the ministry said.
"Staffan de Mistura backed the results of the meetings of the foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey on December 20 in Moscow," the ministry said.
De Mistura said the UN was ready to assist their implementation, including "the preparation of agreements between the government of Syria and the armed opposition on ceasefire and holding talks in Astana," the ministry said.
During the conversation, the position of participants of the Moscow meeting was noted that the upcoming talks in Astana are important "for encouraging the inclusive intra-Syrian dialogue on the political resolution to the crisis based on the UNSC Resolution 2254."
Lavrov and de Mistura agreed to continue contacts on implementing the agreements reached by Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Moscow hosted the talks of the foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey on December 20. An eight-point statement was agreed at the meeting of the foreign ministers.
In the document, Iran, Russia and Turkey fully confirm the respect for sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria as a multiethnic, multireligious, democratic and secular state and stress that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict.
False remarks by UN officials
According to Lavrov, spreading false information on Syrian events by some UN officials is unacceptable.
"Lavrov stressed that the actions by some officials of UN humanitarian units who did not stop at spreading false information on the humanitarian situation in Syria and speculating on the sufferings of people to instigate anti-government rhetoric were unacceptable," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Such politicization of humanitarian issues should be immediately stopped," the statement said.
"Instead of the attempts to make unilateral judgements about the situation with civilians in Aleppo, the relevant services of the UN Secretariat and some UN Security Council members instigating them should join the real delivery of humanitarian aid to that and other districts of Syria - something that employees of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Sides have long been doing in cooperation with the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] and the WHO [World Health Organization]," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.