Lebanese President Michel Aoun (R) meets with Russian President's Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev at the Presidential Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, on June 19, 2019. Russian President's Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev on Wednesday vowed to exert efforts to secure the international community's funding for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland from Lebanon. (Xinhua/Dalati & Nohra)
BEIRUT, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian President's Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev vowed on Wednesday to exert efforts to secure the international community's funding for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland from Lebanon.
"We have promised to exert the needed efforts to activate the Russian strategy aimed at securing the safe return of Syrian refugees to their homeland," Lavrentiev was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.
Lavrentiev's remarks came during his meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil at the Foreign Ministry to discuss issues related to the two countries.
Lavrentiev also discussed the Syrian refugees' issue during his visit to Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
He gave an invitation to Aoun to attend the Astana conference which will take place in July to discuss the political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Lavrentiev arrived in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon to hold discussions with Lebanese officials about Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
More than 1 million Syrian refugees are registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million.
To facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, Russia drafted a strategy and presented it to the Lebanese authorities.
The strategy aims at securing the return of 890,000 Syrian refugees to their homeland.
