MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Nations and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) have sent a total of 14 humanitarian aid convoys to Syria's safe zones since the first de-escalaton area was established in early July, the Russian military said Monday.
"A total of 14 UN-Red Cross humanitarian aid convoys, including 10 in the last month, have been sent to the de-escalation zones since their implementation. Hundreds of tons of food, medication and essentials have been delivered to the local population," Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, told a briefing.
Rudskoy noted that Russia's agreements with Syrian opposition representatives had opened up humanitarian access to the local population and ensured the possibility of resuming trade between the different parts of Syria previously divided by the ongoing civil war.
In May, the guarantor states of the Syrian ceasefire signed a memorandum on the creation of four de-escalation zones in Syria. The areas in southern Syria and in the Eastern Ghouta are already operating. In late July, representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and moderate Syrian opposition reached an agreement on the establishment of the third safe zone in the northern part of the Syrian Homs province. Consultations on the fourth safe zone in the Idlib province are ongoing.
