MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Russian children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova announced on Sunday that an agreement had been reached to return another 200 Russian children home from Syria soon.
"An agreement has been reached with the authorities of the Kurdish side to take another 200 Russian children home from Syria soon. As you can see, our negotiations are becoming increasingly better, while groups of children have been getting larger, and we very much hope that such a close cooperation will continue," she told reporters upon returning from Syria.
According to Lvova-Belova, the 56 children who arrived with her from Syria earlier on Sunday would undergo several weeks of rehabilitation after which they would be transferred to their families in 16 Russian regions. She praised the efforts of the Health Ministry, emergency medicine experts, as well as Syria and the Kurds who had negotiated the return of these kids home.
At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier, Lvova-Belova told the head of state how the United States had originally used the Kurds to prevent her from taking Russian children home, but that an agreement had been reached later to facilitate the return of 69 kids to Russia. Putin instructed work with the Kurds to continue, as he said "it is easier to negotiate with them than with the Americans.".