Russia urges Syrian leadership to be more flexible in settling humanitarian problems - Lavrov
MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Moscow wants Damascus to be more flexible and constructive in humanitarian issues, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
"We are actively helping Syrians to return to peaceful life, Russia is doing quite a lot, and Iran and Turkey are also doing quite a lot. And the UN surely should realize its responsibility for the organization of a major campaign to resolve the problems of the people who are returning home and want to return to peaceful life and normalize some elementary foundations of their well-being," he said.
"We are in touch with the humanitarian agencies of the UN, and we are helping them achieve agreements with the Syrian government in line with humanitarian international law as to how exactly humanitarian projects in Syria should be implemented," Lavrov said.
Russia is urging its "Syrian counterparts in Damascus to be more flexible and constructive, although it is not easy sometimes, considering the discriminatory approaches they see in some of their Western partners," Lavrov said.
At the same time, Moscow simultaneously calls on the UN "to avoid being pressured to politicize humanitarian deliveries and humanitarian aid," he said.
"And, of course, the UN has no right to play into the hands of those who say that aid will be provided only to districts controlled by the opposition," Lavrov said, adding that, on the contrary, the UN should "raise its voice against such approaches."