Russia's Presidential spokesman said on Tuesday that hopes for reestablishment of ceasefire in Syria is very little now.
Peskov: Moscow Sees 'Little Hope' for Restoring Ceasefire in Syria
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950630000429
"We are expressing serious concerns here," Dmitry Peskov said commenting on the offensive launched by Fatah al-Sham Front (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) on Monday, TASS reported.
The group had apparently used this week to fill their inventories of ammunition and to regroup, he added.
Peskov said the condition for renewing the ceasefire in Syria is very simple. "There is the need to cease the hostilities, there is the need for the terrorists to stop attacking Syria’s armed forces."
"And of course, it would be good if our American colleagues did not bomb the Syrians accidentally," he added.
"The main thing we can state is an extremely tense situation," Peskov said.
"We know that the Syrian armed forces, the only units that observed a ceasefire throughout the whole week, had to retaliate to the offensive," Peskov noted.
"We understand that of course such actions put the whole process of Syrian settlement at threat," he admitted.
Peskov declined to comment on the shelling of a humanitarian convoy in Syria. "I don’t consider it as possible and Russian military is currently checking information about this incident," he explained.
He said he hoped the Russian military "will get concrete first-hand information and will be able to make a relevant statement".
The spokesman went on to say that Moscow regrets the United States has so far failed to separate terrorists and militant in Syria.
"Regrettably, we have to state that in the elapsed period, more than one week, our US counterparts have failed to separate terrorists and the so-called moderate opposition," Peskov said.
At the same time he refrained from giving an unambiguous answer to the question if truce in Syria has come to an end.
"I cannot answer your question unequivocally if the truce in Syria is over. The point is there is a certain provision in the agreements that our US counterparts are reluctant to make public by any means. I can just say there is a certain deadline for our US counterparts to separate terrorists from the moderate opposition," Peskov said.
"For the time being we just state that this obligation of our US counterparts has not been fulfilled," Peskov said.
Secretary of State John Kerry says Russia has been warned not to interfere in the US presidential election, claiming that Moscow is trying but does not have the ability.
Russia warned not to meddle in US presidential election: Kerry
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/09/20/485511/US-Russia-Clinton-Trump-Kerry-hack
“We have made it crystal clear to Russia to what the consequences might be,” Kerry told CNN in an interview that was aired on Monday. “The president, myself, we've had conversations, we know what's happening, we are being vigilant.”
“I do not believe Russia will have the ability to effect this election and we are going to be absolutely vigilant about it,” Kerry said. "The president has made that clear and Russia is warned.”
The remarks fall in line with a series of warnings by American officials over the past months, against what they call Moscow’s attempts to influence the November vote.
Syria says it does not require the advice of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon after the outgoing official accuses the Syrian government of killing civilians.
Syria reacts to Ban Ki-moon’s accusations over civilian deaths
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/21/485649/syria-un-ban-condemn
The secretary general "has deviated from its role in finding just solutions for international problems," said a statement released by the Syria's Foreign Ministry late on Tuesday.
Ban made the accusations during his farewell address to the General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
The Syrian statement noted that the address deviated “extremely far from the rules of the UN charter,” while stressing that the international body had not achieved anything towards resolving any conflicts during Ban’s mandate.
It went on to state that the people of Syria hold the right to self-determination and
“do not need Ban’s advice.”
During his address,
Ban said all parties to the conflict in Syria have killed civilians, “but that none more so than the government of Syria.”
He also slammed a recent attack on a UN aid convoy in Syria’s Aleppo as a "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack."
On Monday, the United Nations said
at least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed as they came under attack while en route to deliver humanitarian aid to the hard-to-reach town of Urum al-Kubra.
Syrian President Bashar Assad warned on Tuesday that economic sanctions against the country did more damage than militant groups.
Assad: Sanctions Imposed on Syria More Damaging than Militants
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950630000642
The current security situation and terrorist crimes are probably not so dangerous as the unjust economic embargo imposed on Syria," Assad’s office quoted him on Twitter as saying, Rossiya Segodnya reported.
Syria has been subject to US economic sanctions for decades on allegations that it sponsored terrorism, although Washington scaled them down after the 2011 uprising against Assad to allow support to militant groups.
Washington keeps restrictions in place for US investment into Syria and has frozen the Syrian government's property in the United States.
It has also taken steps to isolate Syrian business internationally and prevent it from selling crude oil abroad.
A senior Syrian military source referred to the recorded phone talks which show coordination between the ISIL and the US-led coalition, and said the terrorist group has not fired any anti-aircraft missiles against the US fighter jets.
Senior Military Source Accuses US of Open Cooperation with ISIL
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950630000364
The source said that
the Takfiri terrorists have several times targeted the Syrian army warplanes and helicopters while they have launched no attacks on the US-led coalition aircraft.
Meantime, analysts believe that the coalition's airstrikes against the Syrian army position will possibly weaken the agreements between the US and Russia on Syria and will exacerbate the crisis in the Middle-East.
They say that given the US preconditions for any agreement with Russia, including President Assad's removal from power, it is obvious that Moscow will not accept it and therefore, the US secret support for the terrorists will continue.
A US P-8A Poseidon spy plane was spotted again flying off the coast of Lebanon and Syria, near the Russian base in Tartus.
US Reconnaissance Plane Spotted again Near Hmeimim Airbase
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950630000198
The P-8A Poseidon aircraft flew close to Syria’s Mediterranean coast where Russia’s naval task force operates. It was the fourth time in the past few weeks that a US spy plane has been spotted near the Russian base in Hmeimim.
Hmeimim military airport, Southeast of the city of Lattakia, is Russia’s strategic center of operations against the ISIL and other terrorist groups.
According to reports, the P-8A Poseidon aircraft, designed and built for anti-submarine warfare and intelligence gathering, took off from the Mediterranean island of Sigonella in Sicily. The aircraft, with tail number 168761 then flew over Syria’s coast for one and a half hours in close proximity to the Russian airbase and logistics facility located at Tartus port, South of Lattakia.
Observers believe that the US spy planes have recently increased their flights over Syria to gather intelligence on the Syrian army and the Russian forces' moves in the region.
According to reports, on August 30, September 2 and September 17, the P-8A Poseidon spy plane was also spotted flying toward the vicinity of the Russian airbase.
The Russian reconciliation center reports militants from the Jebhat al-Nusra Front have launched a full-scale offensive against Syrian army in Aleppo.
Aleppo shelling interrupts Russian Defense Ministry's online video broadcast
http://tass.com/world/900900
The intense shelling in the southwest outskirt of Aleppo has interrupted an online video broadcast at the Russian Defense Ministry website, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday.
"Today, militants shelled a building in the territory of the Al-Assad Military Academy were a web camera, which is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire regime in southwestern Aleppo, was installed," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
None of Russian servicemen who ensured the web-camera’s operation were hurt but the video camera and the transmission equipment were knocked out of service.
Syrian army repels attack The Russian reconciliation center said that Syrian army units have repelled an attack of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group militants on the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo.
"During further counterattack, Syrian troops, supported by Russia’s Aerospace Forces, routed a Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist advance detachment, destroying 4 tanks, 3 infantry combat vehicles, 9 pickups with heavy machineguns and up to 100 militants," the statement said.
Up to 40 militants, four infantry combat vehicles and seven pickups with large-caliber machine guns were destroyed near Syria’s al-Shkeif neighborhood.
"As a result of stubborn battles early on September 20 the Syrian government forces backed by Russia’s Aerospace Forces repelled an attack of terrorists near the al-Shkeif neighborhood in the northern outskirt and regained control over the southern outskirt of the al-Shkeif neighborhood," the statement said.
Jebhat al-Nusra continues shellings The Russian reconciliation center reported 53 violations of ceasefire. Most of them were reported from the province of Aleppo (26). Eight ceasefire violations were reported from Damascus, five - from Hama, two - from Daraa, five - from Latakia, and seven - from Homs.
