Russia says Ghouta fighters accounted for truce

(MENAFN) The operation of an evacuation route that Russia helped open from Syria's eastern Ghouta would depend on rebel forces whom it accused of holding civilians there hostage and of sabotaging the escape route, The Kremlin said Tuesday.

Russia, which backs the Syrian legitimate government, ordered a daily truce from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m and the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" to let civilians leave the area, the last major rebel stronghold near Damascus.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters Tuesday that Russia regretted the situation unfolding in Ghouta and said Moscow would continue to work to try to help civilians leave the area despite what he called "provocations" from rebels.


"It will depend on how the terrorist groups behave, whether they will open fire, whether provocations from them will continue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists when asked whether the current daily five-hour pause in fighting will increase.

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