GENEVA (Sputnik) — Russia and France held consultations in Geneva on the Syrian settlement, discussing the initiatives of both sides for reconciliation, and revealed similarities in their approaches, Borodavkin told reporters.
"During the discussion, the two sides praised recent military success in the fight against Daesh [a terrorist organization banned in Russia] in Syria, reconciliation in de-escalation zones… prospects of political settlement via Astana and Geneva talks, the issue of humanitarian assistance to the Syrians, as well as initiatives of Russia and France on resolving the Syrian crisis with the involvement of the states influencing the situation in Syria," Borodavkin said.
According to Borodavkin, the talks were held in "a pleasant atmosphere and brought to light the similarity of Russian and French approaches to a number of problems that the international community is facing in the context of the fight against terrorism and restoration of peace in Syria."
Apart from the Russian ambassador, the talks were attended by Aurelien Lechevallier, the deputy diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as by representatives of military agencies of both countries.
The talks were held after the city of Deir ez-Zor that had been blocked by Daesh was liberated by the Syrian army on Tuesday. The operation to break the siege of the city, which lies 140 km south east of Raqqa, began after four months of planning and preparation in the wake of the completion of the operation to liberate east Aleppo in January. This operation ended serious rebel activity in western Syria, allowing pro-government forces to turn their attention to the east across the country's desert region into Daesh heartlands.
