MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax) - Russian Armed Forces General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov has returned from Damascus and said that the sentiments there are positive, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"Speaking about the sentiments there, specifically in Damascus - the chief of the Russian General Staff returned from there last night, he had spent the night in Damascus and had seen [the situation there], and we can compare because we visit there fairly regularly, let alone that we are permanently present there, naturally, I mean the Defense Ministry leadership - our impressions, based on what he reported, are naturally most positive. Life in Damascus has changed radically," Shoigu said at the Federation Council on Wednesday.
The Russian top brass visit Syria regularly, he said.
The ceasefire efforts in Syria have positively impacted the city and the people, Shoigu said. Russia has high hopes for the meeting in Astana in early June, where this settlement process will continue, he said.
The Russian military operation in Syria began on September 30, 2015. Russian Aerospace Forces aviation supports the ground-based operations of the Syrian army. Russia has an air base at the Hmeimim airfield in Syria and a naval base at the port of Tartus. It was reported earlier that the Russian Defense Ministry's Special Operations Forces are deployed in Syria.