Relief aid, not weapons, passes from Jordan to Syria — FM

AMMAN — Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday said that the Jordanian northern border is "a gateway" to deliver aid to the Syrian people, stressing that no arms pass from Jordan to Syria.

Jordan wants stability, security and peace to be restored in Syria with no presence of terrorism or sectarian militias and wants Syrians to have a normal life and borders to be opened, he added

The remarks came during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that followed a bilateral meeting in Sochi, Russia, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting, Safadi and Lavrov stressed Jordan and Russia would continue work on improving ties and cooperation to reach solutions for the regional crisis and realise peace, stability and security.

The two ministers stressed prospects of bolstering bilateral ties under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah and President Vladimir Putin, based on "transparency, confidence and frankness" and increasing economic, cultural and defence cooperation.  

Safadi conveyed His Majesty’s congratulations for the reelection OF Putin as president.

The two diplomats discussed the regional developments, especially efforts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution and reaching a political solution for the Syrian crisis through the Geneva path and in accordance with the UN resolution 2254.

Safadi and Lavrov stressed commitment to maintaining the de-escalation agreement in the south of Syria, which was established under a trilateral agreement between Jordan, the United States and Russia.

During the press conference, the minister noted that Jordan hosts 1.3 million Syrian refugees, adding that “Jordan, since the beginning of the crisis, has been providing humanitarian aids despite economic and other pressures”.

The de-escalation zone has proven to be the most successful efforts geared towards ceasefire so far, said Safadi, adding that it has contributed to saving the lives of Syrians and avoiding more destruction.

“We also discussed the situation in southeast Syria, particularly, Rakban camp for displaced Syrians, and we noted the Resolution 2401, which stressed the importance of delivering aid from inside Syria, as they are Syria refugees and aid must be delivered through the Syrian lands”, the minister continued.

For his part, Lavrov stressed his country’s support for Jordan’s fight against Daesh terror group in Syria, in addition to its efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis.

He added that Jordan and Russia are keen on a national Syrian dialogue and fully implementing UN Resolution 2254.

As for the Palestinian issue, Lavrov underlined that Moscow’s proposal to host “unconditional” talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still available.