WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The United States is engaged in talks with Russia on the issue of the return of Russian foreign militants who are detained in Syria, a senior U.S. State Department official has told reporters.
"We've also been talking with the Russians. There are large numbers of detainees and family members from Russia", the State Department official said. "The Russians have shown some interest in getting these people back, but that's still in an early stage".
The official noted the slow progress regarding the return of the foreign Daesh terrorists to foreign countries.
"We do this country by country. It requires a lot of background on the legal situation in the country, logistics of coordinating to get the people out", the official said. "We've had some success with the Middle Eastern countries. We've had some success with Central Asian countries. We've seen people being taken back to Europe only by, I believe, Bosnia, Kosovo, and one person taken back by Italy. Given that there are hundreds of people being held from Europe, Western Europe, and Central Europe, we are very troubled by this and it's a major issue of diplomatic discussion".
The official also pointed out that Washington is confident in the ability of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to secure the detention facilities.
The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm of the Kurdish-led SDF, is "desperate" for funding to protect the prisons with captured foreign militants who had joined terrorist groups, the co-chair of SDC Executive Council Ilham Ehmed said earlier in November.
Guarding captured terrorists became an issue in October when Turkey launched an incursion into northeastern Syria, where the SDF are operating.