MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - The arguments of the Syrian insurgent coalition Jaysh al-Islam that the UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in Syria prevents civilians from being let out of Eastern Ghouta are untenable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"I'll venture to disagree with Jaysh al-Islam's statement that Resolution 2401 does not allow for letting civilians out of Eastern Ghouta and that therefore, while accepting Russia's proposal on daily five-hour humanitarian pauses, they cannot allow civilians who want to leave Eastern Ghouta to do so," Lavrov told journalists following talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday.
"The fact that Jaysh al-Islam has assumed this position makes one question its sincerity when, as Jean-Yves has just told us, it told the UN Security Council president that it agrees to comply with Resolution 2401," he said.
The UN resolution requires that all parties who have besieged populated areas lift these sieges, including the one in Eastern Ghouta, ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid and medicine there, and not prevent anyone who wants to leave those districts from doing so, Lavrov said.