Humanitarian pauses in Syria did not achieve their goals as terrorists used them to regroup forces and attack - Bogdanov
SOCHI. Oct 25 (Interfax) - The cessation of hostilities regime and the humanitarian pauses introduced in Syria were used by terrorists and their sponsors to regroup forces, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov said.
"The ceasefire and the humanitarian pauses were to help the task to have the opposition amicable to the Americans, Saudis, and Qataris, separated from the terrorists of Jabhat al-Nusra," Bogdanov said during the open part of Tuesday's session of the Valdai International Discussion Club's annual meeting.
"This is not what happened. Moreover, what happened was the contrary: it was terrorists, extremists, and their sponsors who used this pause in order to reinforce their positions and advance in certain fronts," he said.
Terrorists used the U.S. strike on the Syrian government army near Deir ez-Zor, which Washington later called a mistake, to reinforce their positions, Bogdanov said.
"After the U.S. strikes on Deir ez-Zor, though our American partners said that this was a mistake, it was militants of the IS [the Islamic State terrorist organization outlawed in Russia] who used the mistake to advance in some places and force the Syrian army to retreat," he said.
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