HMEIMIM (Sputnik) – Russia has provided over 3,000 Syrians with humanitarian aid in the past 24 hours, having also helped deliver humanitarian cargo provided by the United Nations, the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation informs in its daily bulletin.
"Within [the] last 24 hours, the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides has held 6 humanitarian events in the Aleppo province. Citizens of Aleppo have received 3,000 portions of hot meal and bread in the areas of Jabal Bedro, Asiliya, Haidariya, al-Hamdaniya 3, Ashrafiyah, and Sheikh Saeed," the bulletin, posted by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, says.
According to the Russian reconciliation center, a total of 3,350 Syrian citizens received humanitarian aid in the past 24 hours.
Russia has also helped distribute UN aid in the Daraa province and Russian aircraft have helped deliver over 20 metric tons of UN food aid to the Deir ez-Zor area, the center added in its bulletin.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters after a Wednesday Brussels conference on Syria that the country’s humanitarian issues must be left outside political agenda and should not be used to exert pressure on the Syrian government.
The Russian deputy foreign minister also stressed that Russia provides no less support to Syrians than other international players.
The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides announced on Wednesday that the Syria Donors Conference in Brussels raised $6 billion in financial aid for the Middle Eastern country for 2017.
The commissioner stressed that humanitarian aid was not a solution to the Syrian crisis and not an alternative to the political settlement process taking place under UN auspices in Geneva. Russia-Turkey-Iran backed Astana talks on upholding the Syrian ceasefire are also an important platform to prevent fighting and thus enable humanitarian access, Stylianides said.
The Russian Defense Ministry releases daily bulletins of the Syrian reconciliation center informing of regular Russian humanitarian aid deliveries to various parts of Syria, where government forces continue fighting against terrorists such as the Islamic State group (IS, also known as Daesh), banned in Russia and various other countries. Russian planes have also been helping with the distribution of UN aid in Syria, particularly in the Deir ez-Zor area.
