Building on the provisions of the Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012, UN Security Council Resolution 2254, and the decisions of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the Russian and US Presidents agreed on steps aimed at restoring peace in Syria and providing access to humanitarian relief for the distressed population. This agreement was reflected in the Russian-US joint statement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria of February 22.
Throughout the process, Russia continuously emphasised the need to fully separate the units of the so-called ‘moderate’ opposition from ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra as soon as possible. The UN has designated them as terrorist organisations guilty of terrible atrocities. They are only interested in violence and therefore are not covered by the truce agreement. We have never concealed that we consider destructive the American tactics of indiscriminately using any opponents of the legitimate Syrian Government in the struggle against it. As is clear from the United States’ bitter experience with Al-Qaeda, which was nurtured by Western support to Afghan mujahideen, hopes that extremists will see reason have never been justified by subsequent events.
