Phone discussion between Putin and Erdogan over tense situation in Eastern Ghouta

Sputnik
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 09:17 UTC

© Sputnik/ Sergey Guneev

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) of Turkey attending the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, October 10, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed situation in Eastern Ghouta in the context of the UN Security Council's resolution on the Syrian ceasefire in a phone conversation with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kremlin's press service said in a statement.

"The situation in Eastern Ghouta in the context of implementation of UN Security Council's resolution 2401 was discussed. The importance of settling the humanitarian problems and the necessity of further uncompromising fight against the terrorist groups in this region was underlined," the statement, released late on Tuesday, read.

UNSC resolution 2401 was adopted on February 24 and stipulated a month-long ceasefire in Syria, which does not apply to anti-terrorist operations. However, the situation in Damascus' suburb of Eastern Ghouta is still tense, as Damascus is being shelled by local militant with Damascus reporting opening fire in response to shelling from the region.

Erdogan has also informed the Russian leader on the progress of Ankara's operation in Syria's Afrin, according to the statement.

Turkey is conducting its military operation in Afrin, which is called "Olive Branch". The goal of the operation is clear Turkey's Syrian border from the terrorist threat.

Comment: The situation in Syria is gradually normalizing, the number of violations is decreasing, however, the situation in Eastern Ghouta remains tense, chief of the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation Maj. Gen. Yury Yevtushenko said Tuesday.

"Monitoring shows that, in general, the [ceasefire] regime has been observed. Over the past few days there has been a decrease in the number of violations," Yevtushenko said.

"At the same time, with the general stabilization of the situation in the country, the situation in the Eastern Ghouta de-escalation zone remains extremely tense. Radical groups operating in that enclave continue to violate the ceasefire regime. They constantly open fire on the government troops to provoke them to respond," he said.

Militants in Eastern Ghouta are holding hostage women and children using them as a human shield, Major-General Yuri Yevtushenko, Head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties, said on Tuesday.

"The militants act arbitrarily against civilians in Eastern Ghouta up to public executions, prohibiting them to leave the area under the threat of death. They seize food, medicines, drinking water and private vehicles from people. Senior citizens, women and children are forcibly held hostage and used as a human shield," Yevtushenko said.

He stressed that the extremist groups operating in the era continue to violate the ceasefire.

A humanitarian aid delivery to the city of Douma in eastern Ghouta on March 5, was forced to be cut short "due to escalating violence and insecurity," the UN Secretary General's spokesman told reporters on Tuesday.

"Yesterday, the UN and its partners' mission to deliver assistance to people in Douma, in eastern Ghouta, was forced to be cut short due to escalating violence and insecurity. Airstrikes and shelling in Douma and shelling of Damascus continued for hours while the inter-agency convoy was delivering food for 27,500 people, in addition to health and nutrition supplies," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"After nearly nine hours inside, the decision was made to leave for security reasons and to avoid jeopardizing the safety of humanitarian teams on the ground," he went on. "As a result, 14 of the 46 trucks in the convoy were not able to fully offload critical humanitarian supplies."

Of the 14 trucks, four were partially offloaded.

See also: Russian MoD: Russia offers militants safe passage out of Syria's Eastern Ghouta - Militants reject Russia's proposal to leave - UPDATE