US: Not negotiating withRussia and China onrepatriation of IS militants

LONDON (TASS): Washington is not negotiating with Moscow and Beijing on the issue of the repatriation of Russian and Chinese citizens who fought on the side of the militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) and were captured in Syria. This was stated on Thursday at an online briefing for journalists by Christopher Lendberg, Acting First Deputy Coordinator of the State Department’s Bureau of Combating Terrorism.
“Russians and Chinese citizens make up a significant portion of [captured] non-Iraqi and non-Syrian foreign fighters, and the role of the State Departm-ent and the Defense Depa-rtment is to help countries that are interested, willing, or at least able to repatriate their citizens – both fighters and and their families. We can assist them in this, but at the moment we are not working with Russia and China. If the US is involved in the repatriation process, we will demand humane treatment [of militants] and security guarantees, so at the moment when it comes to these two partners, there is no such possibility,” Lendberg said.
According to him, more than 10,000 IS fighters are currently being held in prisons in the Syrian province of Hasakah. There are also about 60,000 relatives of the militants in the refugee camps. Representatives of the State Department and the Global Coalition Against the Islamic State declined to answer the question of how many of these people are Russians.

LONDON (TASS): Washington is not negotiating with Moscow and Beijing on the issue of the repatriation of Russian and Chinese citizens who fought on the side of the militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) and were captured in Syria. This was stated on Thursday at an online briefing for journalists by Christopher Lendberg, Acting First Deputy Coordinator of the State Department’s Bureau of Combating Terrorism.
“Russians and Chinese citizens make up a significant portion of [captured] non-Iraqi and non-Syrian foreign fighters, and the role of the State Departm-ent and the Defense Depa-rtment is to help countries that are interested, willing, or at least able to repatriate their citizens – both fighters and and their families. We can assist them in this, but at the moment we are not working with Russia and China. If the US is involved in the repatriation process, we will demand humane treatment [of militants] and security guarantees, so at the moment when it comes to these two partners, there is no such possibility,” Lendberg said.
According to him, more than 10,000 IS fighters are currently being held in prisons in the Syrian province of Hasakah. There are also about 60,000 relatives of the militants in the refugee camps. Representatives of the State Department and the Global Coalition Against the Islamic State declined to answer the question of how many of these people are Russians.