Some ISSG members view Nusra Front as tool: Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says some members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) view the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front terrorist group as a tool to deter the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to Press TV, Lavrov made the remarks during a press conference alongside United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and US Secretary of State John Kerry after the ISSG meeting in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Tuesday.

Nusra Front is being seen as means to deter the incumbent Syrian government, Lavrov said, warning, “This is a dangerous turn of events.”

A nationwide Moscow-Washington mediated ceasefire, which began in Syria on February 27, has helped reduce violence, but fierce fighting has raged on over the past few weeks in some parts of Syria, especially the northwestern city of Aleppo. The terrorist groups of Daesh and Nusra Front were excluded from the truce.

The top Russian diplomat warned that Nusra Front is making “alliances with groups in the cessation of hostilities.”

In a statement following Tuesday’s meeting, the ISSG called on the international community to prevent any material or financial support from reaching Daesh and Nusra Front and dissuade any party to the truce from cooperating with the terrorists.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he stressed that no one is stronger than the Syrian army “on ground” in war-torn Syria, noting that Moscow is backing Syrian forces in their fight against terrorists.

Moscow expects that the obstacles to Kurds’ participation in the intra-Syrian talks will be eliminated in the near future, Lavrov added.

SS