Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the memorandum issued by the Governments of Russia, Iran and Turkey on 4 May 2017 following negotiations in Astana, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness to date of the establishment of deconfliction areas and security zones in Syria.

We welcome any initiative that contributes to a reduction of violence in Syria. Russia, Iran and Turkey have created a number of de-escalation agreements under the auspices of the Astana process, although the detail of these arrangements remain opaque and violence has continued to varying extents in these areas. Separately, the US, Russia and Jordan agreed a ceasefire in south-west Syria in July and are working on turning this into a fully-fledged De-escalation Area. So far, this ceasefire has held.

Despite lower levels of violence in much of Syria in recent months, we are appalled by credible recent reports of airstrikes by the Asad regime and its backers on Idlib and northern Hama, killing civilians. Airstrikes have reportedly targeted medical facilities, as well as schools. We call on all sides to respect agreed de-escalation agreements and cessations of hostilities, and to make every effort to support the political process in Geneva towards a national political settlement that would finally end the conflict.