#Syria

The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRC) is calling for joint efforts in support of the people hit by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6.

Vietnam will provide Turkey and Syria with 100,000 USD each as relief aid to support their recovery efforts following a devastating earthquake on February 6, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced on February 14 and urged relevant ministries and agencies to provide further supports.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey had by February 6 recorded no Vietnamese citizens dead or injured in an earthquake that devastated the country earlier the same day.

Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000.

Nguyen Phuong Tra, deputy permanent representative of Vietnam to the UN, has emphasised the necessity of stepping up negotiation and trust building efforts among relevant parties in Syria, whilst receiving active assistance from the wider international community.

The strikes were both necessary to address the threat and appropriately limited in scope, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said

A leading Vietnamese diplomat to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) raised concerns regarding the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria during a UNSC meeting on February 25.

Turkish forces stepped up their bombardment around a town in northeast Syria on Saturday, the fourth day of an offensive against a Kurdish militia, after U.S. troops in the region came under artillery fire from Turkish positions.

Situation in Syria and peacekeeping activities were in focus of a meeting between United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the United Nations press office said on Thursday.

Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that some 230 million dollars in US stabilization funds for Syria will be redirected "to support other key foreign policy priorities."

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday for talks about the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project that has drawn U.S. ire.

Last month, Russian servicemen disabled more than 25 drones approaching the military facility

Israel has evacuated some 800 members of the controversial Western-backed White Helmets from Syria to Jordan to be resettled later in the UK, Canada, and Germany, according to statements from Tel Aviv and Amman.

Judging from the statements Putin made at the final press conference, there are plans to take joint steps to provide assistance to refugees, the expert noted. 

The sides will also talk about Ukraine, Syria and other parts of the Middle East.

Shelling, which was carried out by militants in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor, has left two Russian military advisers dead and five more servicemen injured, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated on Sunday.

 U.S., British and French forces pounded Syria with air strikes early on Saturday in response to a poison gas attack that killed dozens of people last week, in the biggest intervention by Western powers against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Russia on Wednesday of imminent military action in Syria over a suspected poison gas attack, declaring that missiles “will be coming” and lambasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian army paused its bombardment of Douma, the last rebel bastion in eastern Ghouta, after midnight, a war monitor said on Saturday, as insurgents prepared to leave the rest of their former enclave.

Israel launched heavy air strikes in Syria on Saturday, saying it hit air defenses and Iranian targets, and the Syrian army claimed to have brought down an Israeli F-16 that crashed in northern Israel in a major escalation of tension.