Russia has asked other CIS countries about the possibility of sending a contingent to Syria for joint monitoring in de-escalation zones, the head of the Russian delegation at the talks on Syria in Astana, Alexander Lavrentyev, said Wednesday.
ASTANA (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Lavrentyev said that Moscow would welcome Kazakhstan’s decision to send peacekeepers to monitor the situation in de-escalation zones.
In its turn, Astana said Kazakhstan is not considering sending troops to monitor de-escalation process in Syria as such a move should be authorized by the United Nations.
“Now the issue is what military contingents — I want to emphasize here — military observers of which countries to involve in the peacekeeping mission in Syria,” Lavrentyev told reporters following the fifth round of talks in Astana.
“No one questions the participation of Russia’s contingent, so we asked all the CIS countries to consider the issue — this is not an imposition of a decision — on the possibility of sending by a country, within reasonable limits, a contingent for joint participation in monitoring of the situation,” he said.
In June, the head of the defense committee of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, Vladimir Shamanov, confirmed to Sputnik that Russia was holding talks with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to send their servicemen to Syria.
Source: Sputnik