(UNITED NATIONS) — Eight European countries are urging Syrian allies Russia and Iran to uphold the cease-fire in Syria’s last major rebel-held province of Idlib and avoid putting at risk the lives of 2 million adults and 1 million children.
In a statement Thursday on the eve of a meeting in Tehran of the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey, which supports Syria’s opposition, the eight nations warned that a full-scale military offensive in Idlib would have “potentially catastrophic humanitarian consequences for civilians.”
The statement from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom also urges Syria “to exercise restraint.”
The eight nations say that “only a U.N.-led political process can bring a solution to the conflict that respects the freedom and the dignity of all Syrian people.”
