MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - The interaction between Russia and the United States was helpful in Syrian crisis settlement issues, Russian Armed Forces' General Staff Chief and First Deputy Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Valery Gerasimov said at an annual press briefing for foreign military attaches.
"I consider it necessary to highlight positive aspects of Russian-American contacts on Syrian crisis settlement issues. The existent format of interaction made it possible to sign the Memorandum between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Russian Federation and the United States on July 7, 2017, and to create the first de-escalation area in southern Syria," Gerasimov said.
Moscow and Washington have taken up an obligation to ensure the observance of the cessation of hostilities by all groups, which are located in this area, and to guarantee the humanitarian access and to establish contacts between the Syrian opposition and government, he said.
"The Joint Monitoring Center in Amman, owing to which we succeed in maintaining a stable regime of the cessation of hostilities in the de-escalation area in southern Syria, is proving its efficiency. According to the United Nations, the numbers of refugees, who returned from Jordan to southern Syrian regions to their permanent homes, have been on the rise over the past few months," the General Staff chief said.
He also emphasized the efforts made as part of the Memorandum on Mutual Understanding reached between the Russian Defense Ministry and the U.S. Department of Defense envisaging the prevention of incidents and ensuring the safety of flights in Syria. "The absence of serious incidents in active actions undertaken by the Russian Aerospace Forces and the International Coalition aviation in the Syrian airspace resulted from this," the General Staff chief said.