MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow is seriously concerned by recent reports that 15 civilians were killed in the Syrian town of Shaddadi in a US-led coalition airstrike, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
"Amid the ongoing anti-Russian propaganda campaign, allegations of international humanitarian law violations, reports of alleged civilian casualties caused by Russian airstrikes, we noticed media reports on the killing of 15 civilians in an attack carried out in Shaddadi by the so-called anti-Daesh coalition led by the United States," the ministry said in a statement.
"This causes serious concern for us," the ministry added, urging all members of the US-led coalition to make "all necessary efforts" to avoid civilian casualties.
Moscow Calls for 'Balanced Approach' in Assessing Syrian Crisis
A balanced approach is necessary when assessing the situation in Syria, and the use of unreliable information is inadmissible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Wednesday at a meeting with Paulo Pinheiro, the head of UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
"The Russian side paid special attention to the need for a balanced approach when assessing the situation in Syria, the inadmissibility of using unreliable information," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Gatilov also stated that issues regarding human rights violations should not become obstacles in the search for a political settlement in Syria, or any other conflict-torn region.
Russia reaffirmed the need to join international efforts to battle terrorism, as well as provide Syria's civilians with humanitarian aid, the ministry said.
