MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow is concerned that al-Nusra Front militants are refusing to leave Syria’s Aleppo despite Russia’s and Syria’s goodwill gesture in the city, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.
"We are concerned that despite those goodwill gestures undertaken by Moscow and Damascus in regard to the situation in Aleppo seeking to normalize it, we see that al-Nusra Front militants are refusing to leave the city," Lavrov said at a press conference.
According to the Russian minister, other militant groups in Aleppo have also not left the city.
Russia Not Surprised US Not Considering al-Nusra Front Target in Syria
Russia is not surprised that the United States does not view al-Nusra Front terrorists as a target in Syria and notes lack of attempts to suppress it, Lavrov said.
On Thursday, the US State Department said that the country’s military efforts were not directed against al-Nusra Front and it was not a priority for it.
"As far as the statements how the coalition treats al-Nusra Front, how Nusra is not a target for the coalition, it was not a revelation for us," the diplomat said.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Assad fighting numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front.
Since the war's beginning it has claimed lives of thousands of people and displaced millions more. The international community has undertaken steps to end the Syrian conflict and to solve the humanitarian crisis in the Middle Eastern country.
