Russia releases parts of US-Russian Syria agreement

Russian Foreign Ministry makes public parts of agreement with US on Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) speaks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

RT,

27 September, 2016

Moscow has released parts of Syria ceasefire deal documents in Russian following the recent publishing of the papers by the US. Russia is calling on Washington to release all the documents from the agreement.

“Only a few days ago – following the information ‘leaks’ in the Western media – the US State Department published on its website parts of the documents, not bothering to agree with us the date of the release,” the statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry website says.

“On our part, we publish the texts of the relevant agreements in Russian,” it adds.

Last week, AP news agency published a leaked document from the Russia-US brokered Syria ceasefire deal, one of five such papers. An enlarged version that also included documents dated earlier this year can be viewed on the US State Department website.

The text in question represented part of the ceasefire agreement signed between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, on September 9 in Geneva.

It included details of the initial two-day ceasefire, which came into effect on September 12. Key elements of the document described the steps for humanitarian aid deliveries in Syria. The paper also stressed the need for the US-backed rebels to swiftly separate themselves from terrorist groups such as Al-Nusra.

According to the statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow has always called on Washington to “immediately publish every document after it was agreed on.”

“[We] urge Washington to agree to provide the public with the full ‘package’ [of documents], also to unveil the JIC [Joint Information Center] mandate, where the Russian and US military experts must work together to identify targets and coordinate combat sorties,” it adds.

Reacting to the AP leak, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: “We believe that the publishing of these documents will contribute directly to their implementation and the way toward the Syrian settlement.”