Sir, – Your coverage of the latest events in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta puts the blame for the difficult humanitarian situation in the area on the Syrian government. It is important to remind people that Eastern Ghouta is one of the so-called “de-escalation zones” where a number of the so-called opposition groups have been contained for some time. According to the agreed status of such zones in Syria, there should be ceasefire in place leading to a complete end of hostilities. Regrettably, for some time now those opposition groups (in fact, remnants of Isis and other Islamic terrorist structures) have been shelling different parts of the Syrian capital Damascus, with many civilian casualties as a result.
These unprovoked actions were made in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement and for this obvious reason caused the Syrian authorities’ counter-action.
The real issue now is for the US, which has been supporting “opposition” in Syria with the aim to overthrow the legitimate government of President Bashar al-Assad, to use its influence to stop this tragic cycle of violence.
One might hope that the US administration will abandon its double-standards approach – in that way there is a chance for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on a “humanitarian pause” in Eastern Ghouta, which is now being worked on in New York. – Yours, etc,
VASILY VELICHKIN,
Press Secretary,
Embassy of the
Russian Federation
in Ireland,
Rathgar, Dublin 14.