UN Chief To Meet Lavrov On Monday To Discuss Situation In Syria's Idlib - Spokesman

UN Chief to Meet Lavrov on Monday to Discuss Situation in Syria's Idlib - Spokesman

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2020) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva later on Monday to discuss the escalation of hostilities in Syria's Idlib province, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Monday.

"He had met with a number of PR's [permanent representatives] last week, and this evening he is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Lavrov in Geneva," Dujarric said when asked about Guterres' efforts to help contain the ongoing hostilities in Syria.

In September 2018, Russia and Turkey agreed to create a demilitarized buffer zone in Idlib, but Islamic militants continued to stage attacks on Syrian government forces and civilians there.

Tensions escalated after the Syrian military shelled a Turkish observation post on February 3, killing six military personnel and one civilian contractor. Turkey responded with a number of retaliatory strikes, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Friday that some 150 Syrian soldiers have been killed.

Earlier in February, Lavrov said that Turkey had not fulfilled several key commitments on Idlib, including its failure to distinguish between the armed opposition, which is ready for dialogue with the Syrian government within the framework of the political process, and terrorists.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, however, said that Ankara had fulfilled its obligations in Idlib.