MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/: The Syrian Army has the right to suppress terrorists in the Idlib province and Moscow cannot prevent it from doing so, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
"The Syrian Army has every right to respond to repeated ceasefire violations in the Idlib zone and suppress terrorists. We cannot stop the Syrian Army from implementing the provisions of UN Security Council resolutions on the uncompromising fight against all forms of terrorism," Lavrov emphasized.
The top diplomat reaffirmed Moscow's full commitment to the agreements on Syria’s Idlib reached by the Russian and Turkish presidents and urged Ankara to begin to abide by them too. "We reaffirm our full commitment to those agreements, which have been reached by the Russian and Turkish presidents regarding what has to be done in the Idlib de-escalation zone: to disengage the normal opposition from terrorists, demilitarize the inner belt in that zone so that no one can shell Syrian army positions and the Russian military base from there and to ensure the unhindered use of the motorways, which pass through that zone. That remains our common goal with our Turkish counterparts. Nevertheless, it is essential to start implementing these agreements, since things did not work out properly for a year and a half," he stated.
