Russia:

Militant Groups Links with Terrorists in Syria 'Obvious'

Rasa - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Moscow sees links between certain militant groups and terrorists in Syria as obvious.

News ID: 423338

Date: 08 September 2016 - 19:36

RNA - "The links between a number of militant groups and recognized terrorists are a fact, it is obvious not only to us but also for the militants themselves," Zakharova told journalists in her weekly news briefing in Moscow, Sputnik reported.

Syria has been mired in civil war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous militant groups, as well as terrorist organizations.

The spokesperson added a planned meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Syria would likely be held in Geneva on Sept. 8-9.

"The details and the format of the meeting are now being confirmed. We proceed from the fact that agreement on holding the talks has been reached," Zakharova said.

The meeting between Kerry and Lavrov in Geneva sees the goal of trying to forge a ceasefire deal on Syria, as the prospect for ending the violence in the five-year conflict is still bleak.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman  also touched on US-Russian bilateral relationship, saying US administration continues damaging bilateral relations with Russia by imposing and expanding its targeted and fruitless sanctions.

"The US administration, on the decline of its activity, continues to destroy bilateral relations under the pretext of events surrounding the Crimea and Donbas," Zakharova said, referring to the region in Eastern Ukraine.

Zakharova stressed that the restrictive measures that added 11 Russian citizens and 107 legal entities earlier this month have "no effect whatsoever."

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