Friday, May 5, 2017

Syria’s de-escalation zones to be closed to US-led coalition aircraft, envoy says

The memorandum on de-escalation zones does not mention this, but flights are halted above these territories, the Russian diplomat has noted...


The planned de-escalation zones in Syria will be closed to the US-led coalition’s aviation, the head of Russia’s delegation and the president’s special envoy for Syrian settlement, Alexander Lavrentyev, said.

"The case is that in the de-escalation zones the work of aviation, especially the coalition forces, is absolutely not envisaged, with or without notification," he stressed.

"This issue is off the table now."
"The only place where the coalition’s aviation can operate is certainly on targets of the Islamic State (terrorist group, outlawed in Russia)," the envoy said.

"The aviation is located in the area of concentration of forces of this group near Raqqa and other settlements, near the Euphrates and Deir ez-Zor."

"As for their actions in the de-escalation zones, currently all of them are closed for their flights," the head of Russia’s delegation stressed.
[tass.com]
5/5/17

1 comment :

  1. Russia stopped to use its air force in Syria under the memorandum on de-escalation zones in Syria from May 1, Sergei Rudskoi, chief of the main operation department of Russia’s General Staff, said on Friday.
    "From 00:00 on May 1, Russia stopped to use its air force in area designated as de-escalation zones in the memorandum," he said.


    "Setting up de-escalation zones will improve the position of the government troops. The Russian Aerospace Force will continue supporting them in their operations aimed at eliminating militants of the Islamic State international terror group (outlawed in Russia)," he said.

    "The area of Kabun, which is completely controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra militants and from where Damascus, including the Russian embassy there, is being shelled, was not included into this zone [of de-escalation - TASS]. The operation against terrorists in this area will be continued," he said.

    According to Rudskoi, the focus will be on the offensive east of Palmyra and the liberation of Deir ez-Zor which has been besieged by militants for three years now, as well as on the liberation of the southeastern areas of the Aleppo Governorate.

    "The issue of Russia’s return to full-scale participation in the Memorandum on incidents prevention in the Syrian airspace will be discussed during bilateral contacts with US colleagues in near future," Rudskoi said.......http://tass.com/politics/944818
    [tass.com]
    5/5/17

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