MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Representatives of the Russian reconciliation center and the office of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have met to discuss Syrian humanitarian and security issues, the reconciliation center said in a statement published by the Russian Defense Ministry.
"In Damascus, meetings were held between officers of the Russian reconciliation center and representatives of the Damascus office of UN Secretary General’s Special Representative Staffan de Mistura, the International Red Cross in Syria and the Syrian government," the statement says.
According to the bulletin, issues relating to the delivery of UN humanitarian aid to the Syrian city of Aleppo and security issues were discussed during the talks.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups. On February 27, a US-Russia brokered ceasefire came into force in Syria. Terrorist groups such as Islamic State (IS, also known as Daesh), as well as Jabhat Fatah al Sham (also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Nusra Front) are not part of the deal. Both groups are banned in Russia and a range of other countries.
The Syrian city of Aleppo has seen intense fighting over the past few months, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of terrorists in some districts of the city.
