Moscow Says Safe Zones in Syria Facilitate Delivery of Humanitarian Aid

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov held talks on Wednesday with UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, and stressed that the establishment of safe zones in Syria facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ramzy arrived in Moscow earlier in the day to discuss preparations for the next round of Astana talks on Syrian crisis settlement, scheduled for the end of August.

"The exchange of views on the Syrian settlement issues has continued, with the focus on the outcomes of the last round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva and the ongoing work on the implementation of agreements on de-escalation zones… The Russian side emphasized that the creation of such zones provided further opportunities to deliver humanitarian aid to the people in need," the statement read.

In May, the participants of the talks in Astana agreed on establishing four safe zones in Syria as part of the de-escalation process. The first one, in the north of the country, covers the province of Idlib and neighboring districts of Latakia, Aleppo and Homs. The second is in the north of the province of Homs. The third is located in the south of Syria, in the Quneitra and Daraa provinces, while the fourth one is in the Eastern Ghouta.