Britain is alarmed by the worsening situation in the Syrian region of East Ghouta near Damascus and the province of Idlib in the north-west of the country.
This was announced on Tuesday by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Bert, who welcomed the delegates of the Syrian negotiating team in London, uniting members of the Syrian opposition interested in the settlement of the armed conflict in that country.
“We have allocated about 2.5 billion pounds ($ 3.4 billion – ed.) for humanitarian aid in connection with this crisis, and I am alarmed that, despite the commitments undertaken to de-escalate, the regime and its supporters continue to bomb and firing on the opposition-controlled areas in East Gut and the province of Idlib In recent weeks, this offensive operation of the regime has resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians, the displacement of tens of thousands of people, the destruction of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure,” said department.
“Together with our international partners, the UK supports the efforts of the Geneva process with the mediation of the UN, because we believe that this is the best way to achieve a lasting political settlement with a view to ending the conflict.” We highly appreciate the constructive participation of Nasr al-Hariri (head of the opposition delegation at the Geneva talks – Tass) and the Syrian opposition in the last round of negotiations in Geneva, and we urge the Syrian regime also to take a constructive part by agreeing to direct talks,” added Bert.
The Eastern Ghouta is included in one of the de-escalation zones created in accordance with the agreement of May 4 between the guarantor countries of the ceasefire in Syria: Russia, Iran and Turkey.
The Syrian command announced the cessation of hostilities in this region on July 22, 2016, but the gangs have since repeatedly violated the ceasefire. The province of Idlib, bordering with Turkey, was captured by gangs in early 2015.
