Russia may start striking terrorist groups in Syria unilaterally on May 25 - Defense Minister Shoigu
MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax-AVN) - If terrorist organizations in Syria refuse to stop fighting, Russia reserves the right to start eliminating them unilaterally on May 25, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"We reserve the right, starting May 25, to unilaterally strike units of international terrorist organizations and illegal armed groups that have not signed up to the cessation of hostilities," Shoigu said at a Defense Ministry board meeting on Friday.
To fight the terrorist organizations designated as such by the UN, Russia invited the U.S., as a co-chair of the International Syria Support Group, "to continue working with 'moderate' opposition groups until May 25 to make sure that they join the cessation of hostilities," Shoigu said.
Russia also urges the units honoring the cessation of hostilities to leave the territories occupied by Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in Russia) and other international terrorist organizations, he said.
"We believe that these measures would help switch to a process of the conflict's peaceful settlement all over Syria. Certainly, these measures have been agreed upon with the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic," Shoigu said.
