Asia

Asia

Russia, Iran express support for Damascusâ€™ efforts to combat terrorism

28 March 2017 17:10 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow and Tehran are committed to resolving the Syrian crisis by political and diplomatic means, while expressing strong support for Damascus’ efforts in the fight against terrorists, Russian and Iranian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani, said in a statement following talks in the Kremlin on Tuesday, APA reported citing TASS.

"While respecting Syria’s independence, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity and proceeding from the principled stance that there is no alternative to tackling the Syrian problem by peaceful means, Russia and Iran spoke out in favor of resolving the conflict in Syria by political and diplomatic means on the basis of the principles set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 2254," the statement said.

At the same time, Putin and Rouhani expressed strong support for the efforts "made by the Syrian authorities, the army and people’s militia over the past six years aimed at the fight against terrorism, specifically, the Islamic State (terror group, outlawed in Russia), Jabhat al-Nusra and other groups affiliated with them."

The two countries’ presidents also "noted the work by Russia, Iran and Turkey in a trilateral framework, which created conditions for holding the intra-Syrian dialogue in Astana and ensured the possibility of establishing effective and sustainable ceasefire in Syria." "The two sides see such cooperation as an important step towards the success of the UN-backed Geneva talks," the joint statement said.