Moscow. October 4. INTERFAX - Moscow and Damascus accused Washington of disrupting the evacuation plan prepared under the auspices of the UN for the civilian population of the Rukban refugee camp.
"We believe that it is the illegal presence of the United States and its allies in Syria that is the main destructive factor on the path of the country's revival. It leads to the plundering of the natural resources of the SAR and inflaming hotbeds of tension in the region. Another confirmation of this was the failure in early September 2021 of the plan prepared by the relevant UN structures for two years to evacuate the civilian population of the Rukban refugee camp," the joint statement of the interdepartmental coordination headquarters of the Russian Federation and Syria said. It was published on Monday on the website of the Russian military department.
According to the headquarters, "it is precisely because of the failure of American security guarantees in the 55-kilometer Al-Tanf zone held by them that local militants with the use of violence did not allow UN representatives to take Syrian citizens to the territory controlled by the government of the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR)."
"The justifications of the American side, which justifies the failure of the operation to rescue the camp residents by the lack of delivery of humanitarian aid to Rukban, are puzzling," the statement said.
The headquarters emphasize that "the necessary assistance to citizens returning from the Rukban camp is provided on government territory, where all conditions are created for them." "And the humanitarian needs of the Rukban militants who are being supported by the American side, in accordance with the norms of international law, are the sole responsibility of the US forces illegally occupying this area," the report says.
The Russian and Syrian sides are convinced that "the inability of the American side to ensure the safety of Syrians in the occupied territories indicates the need for their speedy return to the control of the legitimate government of Syria."
Moscow and Damascus called on "the United States and its allies to stop having a destructive impact on the social and economic situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as to lift illegitimate sanctions that hinder the restoration of the country."
