GENEVA (Sputnik) — The UN envoy added that political stabilization phase in Syria should be starting "more or less together" with the deescalation phase.
"I want to emphasize, this deescalation agreement is considered to be interim, not undermining Syrian territorial integrity and unity … Interim means that these deescalation areas and practical arrangements should not become a preparation to… what could become de-facto areas of influence or partition of the country," de Mistura said.
De Mistura also said that the agreement on deescalation zones reached by the Presidents of Russia and the United States Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is "a step in the right direction," adding that it already helps the Geneva discussions and will help the Astana discussions as well.
On May 4, Russia, Turkey and Iran signed a memorandum on the establishment of safe zones in war-torn Syria as part of the the Astana talks on Syrian settlement. The four zones include the northwestern Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces, the north of the central Homs province, eastern Ghouta near Damascus and certain parts in the country's southern Deraa and Quneitra provinces. The memorandum on these de-escalation zones took effect on May 6.
