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TASS
The issues of cease-fire in Syria have to work in Astana, and in the Geneva format, said Russian Deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
“The issues of cessation of hostilities and respect for the cessation of hostilities practiced by us in the so-called Astana format together with the guarantor countries. Russian centre of reconciliation in Hamima leads round the clock monitoring of what is happening. The number of clashes and incidents of use of force compared to last year dropped repeatedly at times,” Ryabkov said in response to a request to comment on the call of the assistant to the UN special envoy on Syria, Jan Egeland, on the humanitarian pause in Syria.
According to Ryabkov, “matters relating to the continuation of efforts towards making it a more sustainable, need to work in the same format in Astana, which we will do.”
“In parallel, we should not relax efforts to find a political settlement in Geneva, where we hope to continue negotiations under the auspices of the special envoy of the UN Secretary General,” — said Ryabkov.
Egeland said Thursday that the UN appealed to Russia, USA and Turkey with the request to support the introduction of a three-day humanitarian ceasefire in Syria. He noted that the UN needed “a full 72 hour ceasefire to deliver aid to Eastern ghouta”.