MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A deconfliction zone has been established near the Syrian city of Tell Rifaat. Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation is going to assist in this process, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, said Wednesday.
"In order to prevent provocations and possible clashes between detachments of the Free Syrian Army formations in the north of Syria and the Kurdish militia, with the assistance of the Russian reconciliation center, a deconfliction zone has been established in the Tell Rifaat area," Rudskoy said.
"Units of the Syrian government troops replaced Kurdish armed groups that left the area. In order to prevent possible provocations and maintain the regime of cessation of hostilities, a unit of military police of the Russian Armed Forces was deployed to the deconfliction zone," Rudskoy said.
Meanwhile, the participants of the Astana meeting on Syria will adopt the regulation of actions of forces controlling the de-escalation in four de-escalation zones in Syria, including Idlib, Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy added. Earlier in the day, Rudskoy said that Astana meeting will be held on September 13-15.
"During the meeting, [the sides] are expected to adopt documents regulating the actions of forces controlling the de-escalation in all four de-escalation zones, including ‘Idlib,’ as well as provisions on the joint coordination center," the official said.
The agreement on establishing four Syrian safe zones was reached during the talks on Syrian reconciliation in Astana in May. Besides, three ceasefire guarantor states — Russia, Turkey and Iran — with help of Jordan and the United states as observers, tried to coordinate a whole range of specifics of the establishment of four de-escalation zones in Syria.
