MOSCOW. Dec 5 (Interfax-AVN) - Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov says positive results have been achieved in the implementation of the Russian-Turkish memorandum on Idlib.
"Of course, not all measures are taken by the established deadlines, but the most important thing is that these efforts are having results. The number of ceasefire violations by the armed opposition has significantly decreased since the establishment of the demilitarized zone," Gerasimov told foreign military attaches at a briefing.
"This once again proves the effectiveness of the Astana Format, whose activities are aimed at the peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict," he said.
According to Gerasimov, an exchange of detainees and hostages by the Syrian government and the armed opposition was carried out for the first time as part of this format on November 24.
The situation in the Idlib de-escalation area remains an area of concern, as it is the last major terrorist stronghold in Syria, he said.
In September, Russia and Turkey reached agreements aimed at stabilizing the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and creating a demilitarized zone with a depth of 15-22 kilometers running along the line of contact between government forces and the opposition, Gerasimov said. A memorandum, envisaging Turkish forces' removal of heavy weapons and all radical groups from the demilitarized zone, was signed.
Additionally, in August, peacekeeping activity on the Golan Heights were resumed in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 350 of 1974 after control over the Syrian-Jordanian border and the southern part of the Syrian-Iraqi border had been completely restored.
"To make the activities of this mission possible, Russian servicemen conduct monitoring of the situation at six observation posts located along the so-called Bravo line," Gerasimov said.