Russia evacuates Russian, Belarusian, North Korean diplomats from Syria

On December 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the country's air force had organized a special flight to evacuate a number of Russian, Belarusian and North Korean diplomats in Damascus.

A Russian military plane takes off from the Hmeimim air base in Syria on December 15.

"The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues," Reuters reported on December 16, citing the announcement of the Crisis Response Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the Telegram channel.

TASS news agency quoted information from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry confirming that all of the country's diplomats have been evacuated from Syria.

In another development, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel launched early morning attacks on military sites in Syria's coastal region of Tartus, which is also home to a Russian naval base in the Mediterranean.

"Israeli warplanes attacked a series of locations, including air defense positions and surface-to-surface missile depots," AFP quoted the organization as saying.

The organization said these were the most intense bombardments of the Syrian coast since 2012.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on December 15 that he had a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump about the moves in Syria and Gaza, according to Reuters on December 16.

Mr Netanyahu said he spoke to Mr Trump on the night of December 14. However, the US president-elect's spokesman refused to provide further details about the phone call.

According to Netanyahu, they discussed the situation in Syria following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria's strategic weapons depots since Assad left the country, and moved troops into the demilitarized zone inside Syria.

Despite the moves in Syria, the Israeli Prime Minister has stressed that the country has no interest in conflict with Syria.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nga-so-tan-cac-nha-ngoai-giao-nga-belarus-trieu-tien-khoi-syria-185241216060833068.htm