People transfer a woman, who was injured by a mine that went off in Bustan al-Diwan neighborhood in the old city of Homs, Syria, on Saturday, May 10, 2014. (Xinhua/Bassem Tellawi)
MOSCOW, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday called upon the international community to join efforts in the urgent task of humanitarian demining in Syria.
The ministry welcomed in a statement a memorandum of understanding on eradicating mines in Syria signed earlier this week by the Syrian government and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
The document laid the "necessary legal framework" for the UN and the international community to join in demining activities in Syria, the statement said.
According to the statement, Russia has been actively involved in humanitarian demining and had prepared to set up relevant engineering and demining units in Syria in recent years, conducting various demining operations.
"We call upon the international community to actively join the Russian-Syrian efforts in this direction and provide the appropriate financial and technical support," the statement said.
Such "urgent and expeditious" efforts on a global scale would ultimately contribute to creating conditions for the return of millions of Syrians to their homes and the reconstruction of the country, the statement said.
