In the past few days Russian and Syrian jets have flown their first mission together over Syria.
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John Kirby, U.S. State Department Spokesperson, informed this during a press briefing on Thursday, January 14, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
Syrian government forces also took ten settlements in the province of Hama, he added.
“A decision was made on opening a humanitarian operation by the Russian Armed Forces in the Syrian Arab Republic”, Lt. Gen. Rudskoi told reporters.
According to the general, since the beginning of the air operation in Syria on September 30, the Russian Air Force has conducted 5,662 operational sorties, including 145 sorties made by strategic bombers from the territory of Russia.
In particular, the list of terrorist groups should be coordinated jointly as soon as possible, while possible humanitarian measures were discussed so as to mitigate the “plight of civilians”, the ministry said.
Multi-party talks on Syria due to start January 25 in Geneva have been thrown into doubt by a diplomatic rift between Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni Muslim state, and mainly Shi’ite Iran after Riyadh executed a Saudi Shi’ite cleric, sparking a mob attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
In public statements, Russian officials have said the deployment will continue only until regime forces complete “offensive operations” and against Isil and other rebel groups.
Russian President Vladimir Putin cited the campaign’s necessity as to stop the advancement and development of IS fighters before they reach Russia’s borders.
In August, Russia and Syria signed an agreement giving Moscow the right to retain an open-ended military presence in the war-torn country, Moscow revealed on Thursday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed to meet for talks on Syria and Ukraine Wednesday in Zurich.
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– Full implementation of Minsk agreement also to be discussed, says State Dept.
