H.E. Mr. Maxim Peshkov:

By the way, had this agreement been fulfilled, I am sure that no crisis around Crimea would have arisen.

On Syria, while I am not a specialist on the region, I can answer that unfortunately the situation in Syria is much more difficult than in many other conflicts. This is because there are no sides in the conflict, or rather, on one side there is Bashar al-Assad and his people, and on the other side there is a quite fragmented and amorphous group of people of various views and groupings, military people and so on. They begin at a rather liberal part of the opposition and end with al-Qaeda, the Taliban and so on. It is quite difficult to find some compromise as to what to do. For instance, the Assad side agreed to some negotiations with the liberal section of the opposition. They began the contacts, but they were all in vain because the military part of the opposition - that is, those who are with al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other groupings - are against all such contacts, which is quite a problem.

As for the humanitarian position, the Deputy is correct that the situation is rather gloomy in that country. It may not be catastrophic, but it is nearing catastrophe. We are trying to help. We sent some food and medicine to Syria, but it is quite a problem for us or for the Syrian authorities to send this kind of assistance or help to those regions that are under the control of these extremists. Consequently, it is quite a problem, and I believe there are forces outside Syria who could work with these people - that is, with the extreme or radical part of the opposition. For instance, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have contacts with some but not all of them, and they must work.