Russia to Host Syrian Immigrants Conference

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered on Wednesday to host an international conference in Moscow on the Syrian immigrants fleeing the unrest in their country.

“If the interested nations agree to this, we will be ready to propose Moscow as the venue,” news agencies quoted Putin as saying during talks with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.

Putin also promised Lebanon financial assistance to help deal with the Syrian immigrants on its territory.

“Russia is also ready to send tents and medicine,” Putin said. “We will do our utmost to … sponsor the organization of an international conference on the refugee problem,” he added.

Putin told Sleiman that “Russia is ready to help Lebanon solve humanitarian issues.

“We will ask our specialists to determine the size of this assistance,” he stated, however, he did not specify when exactly the refugee conference in Moscow might be held.

The United Nations warned Wednesday that more than 650,000 people have already fled the 22-month conflict to neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Turkey.