Russia lashed out at Western countries on Monday, accusing m of blocking U.N. aid for Syria’s reconstruction and trying to prevent return of refugees. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Lebanese counterpart, Gibran Bassil, that U.S. refusal to provide assistance for rebuilding Syria after more than seven years of fighting would deter Syrians from returning to ir homes. Russia has been chief backer of Syrian President Bashar Ass, helping his forces to regain control over most of country. w Moscow is calling on Western countries, which backed opposition, to help fund reconstruction efforts, saying it would reduce flow of refugees and migrants to Western Europe.

Reconstruction of archaeological sites 

Speaking after talks with Bassil, Lavrov bristled at U.S. and its Western allies for making assistance to Syria contingent on a political transition process. He also accused West of pressuring United Nations to stay away from reconstruction efforts in Syria. Lavrov said Moscow is looking into why U.N. cultural ncy, UNESCO, is dragging its feet on reconstruction of world-famous archaeological sites in Syrian city of Palmyra. He said U.N. Secretariat’s political department has explicitly banned any involvement in reconstruction in Syria pending a political settlement. Lavrov ded that he voiced a strong protest against move in a phone conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

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“It’s inmissible when a group of countries manipulates secretariats of international organizations, which are supposed to be unbiased and independent,” Lavrov said. “ U.N. was created on basis of ... equality of all countries. I strongly urge our Western partners to return to that principle and t try to covertly exploit international organizations.”

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"Leban supports Syrian refugees"

He also criticized recent comments by Filippo Grandi, he of U.N. refugee ncy, who said last week that it was too soon to talk about mass repatriation of more than 5 million Syrian refugees. Lavrov said UNHCR should t be a “subsidiary of a group of Western countries.” Lavrov also charged that al-Qaida militants located near al-Tanf in souastern Syria, where U.S. military visers are based, have launched raids intended to prevent refugees from coming back from Jordan.
Bassil said Leban, which is hosting more than 1 million refugees, fully supports Russian efforts to help Syrians return. “Leban supports quick and safe return of Syrian refugees without any link to a political solution,” Bassil said. “ circumstances in Syria have changed and many areas are safe, and for that reason, re is reason for refugees to stay.”
He said Leban would be in contact with Syria to support Russian initiatives to help refugees return.

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