"As for the yesterday's proposal of Tillerson, similar proposals of the State Department were expressed last year. We believe that the US side needs to return to a full-blooded and full-fledged participation in the anti-terrorist operation in the territory of Syria and then together with them we can work out sensible approaches, as [US President Donald] Trump said earlier, to fighting not with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad but with the Daesh and other terrorist organizations in Syria," Slutsky told reporters.
The lawmaker added that Tillerson's position is substantive for a discussion and just like the last year "we are ready to discuss it with him and other US negotiators in order to approach the creation of an effective anti-terrorist coalition in which we clearly see the United States."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the Washington’s proposal to establish safe zones with Tillerson on the sidelines of the February 16 G20 ministerial meeting in Bonn. Russian envoy to the UN Office in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin said that Russia was cautious about the proposal and stressed the need to coordinate such projects with the Syrian government.
