Syria’s de-escalation zones to be closed to coalition aircraft

De-escalation zones in Syria will be closed for aviation of the United States and the coalition, the head of Russia’s delegation and the president’s special envoy for Syrian settlement, Alexander Lavrentyev, said.

"The case is that in the de-escalation zones the work of aviation, especially the coalition forces, is absolutely not envisaged. Even with notification or without it. This issue is off the table now," TASS cited him as saying.

According to the diplomat, the only place where the coalition’s aviation can work is certainly on targets of ISIS (terrorist group, outlawed in Russia). "The aviation is located in the area of concentration of forces of this group near Raqqa and other settlements, near Euphrates and Deir ez-Zor," he added.