Russian President Vladimir Putin expects that the call for ceasefire in Idlib will be heard and terrorists in this Syrian province will have wisdom to lay down arms.
"We believe that an agreement will be reached and our call for truce in the Idlib zone will be heard," Putin stressed after the Tehran summit between Russia, Iran and Turkey. "We hope that representatives of terrorist organizations will have wisdom to end resistance and lay down arms," he said
Putin noted that "all our agreements on Syria have been always based on the fact that we seek and will continue seeking reconciliation of all conflicting sides and we have always left aside terrorist organizations."
The Russian leader stressed that it’s important to bear in mind that many civilians reside in Idlib. Earlier, Russia and other countries made efforts enabling terrorists to move to Idlib from other Syrian provinces, including with small arms. He noted that there are many heavy armaments in Idlib. Militants of different groups create drones and get spare parts to manufacture these drones to use them for their aims, Putin added
Clashes also occur inside the Idlib zone. "We cannot but worry about all this, of course, as well as because of the fact that terrorists use civilians as shields like they always do," Putin said.
According to the Russian leader, this occurs regularly, and the events in Raqqa, which was captured by the US-backed forces, serve as an example. "We heard then that terrorists who use civilians as shields are to blame for the deaths among the civilians," the president said.
The Russian and Syrian military has always sought to ensure the exit of the civilian population, Putin noted, thanking Turkey and Iran for coordination in this issue.