Specialists from Russia's Institute for History of Material Culture to start Palmyra Arch restoration together with Syrian colleagues soon - Putin

ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 17 (Interfax) - Russian and Syrian specialists will soon start restoring the Monumental Arch, also known as the Arch of Triumph, in the Syrian city of Palmyra, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"After Syria's Palmyra was liberated in 2016, our specialists from the Institute for the History of Material Culture took urgent measures to save the monument. They examined the ruins, catalogued every fragment, and developed a unique project for restoring this UNESCO World Heritage site, and they're going to start its implementation together with their Syrian colleagues soon," Putin said at a culture forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.

The world was shocked to learn that terrorists ruined the legendary arch in Syria's Palmyra several years ago, Putin said.

The word Palmyra also sounds symbolic to Russians, as St. Petersburg is often nicknamed Northern Palmyra, he said.

Speaking of possible restoration work in other hot spots around the world, Putin said, "Of course, conditions for such work must be provided."

For instance, working in the Gaza Strip is currently impossible, Putin said. "I am sure there are no conditions whatsoever for working there now," he said.

At the same time, such restorative work is possible in some regions of Iraq, Putin said. "As for Iraq, perhaps working in certain regions is possible. Definitely, the necessary preparations should be done together with local authorities, but we can well speak and do that, and our partners are likely to support us," he said.