Russia, Turkey Should Increase Patrols in Syria’s Idlib - UN Special Envoy

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Russia and Turkey should uphold the ceasefire and increase patrolling in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said at a Security Council meeting.

"The situation is relatively more stable after the ceasefire that was agreed upon through Turkey and Russia… We encourage Turkey and Russia to continue to uphold the ceasefire and also to increase patrolling in the area. We believe this is a key," Pedersen said on Tuesday.

The special envoy said last week, the de-escalation zone had noticed the surge of violence coming from both the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (banned in Russia) attacking civilians and from the Syrian government responding to those attacks.

"This has led to increased civilian casualties and indeed also further displacement," he added.

READ MORE: Cavusoglu: Turkey Coordinates With Russia, US Details of Future Syrian Safe Zone

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and militant and terrorist organizations. Russia, along with Turkey and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire regime in Syria. Moscow has also been providing humanitarian aid to residents of the crisis-torn country.