MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. The attempts taken by the United States to resettle Kurds in the regions historically inhabited by Arab tribes might cause Syria’s breakup, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday after talks with Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.
"We strongly feel that the Syrian Kurds should enjoy their rights as a nation that has a lengthy history and that has lived in Syria over many centuries," Lavrov said.
"It is necessary that those areas inhabited by the Kurds should remain their national heritage. The US attempts to resettle Kurds in the areas where Arab tribes have always lived historically is a very bad process and a direct way to separatism and the breakup of Syria," he added.
According to the Russian foreign minister, the situation on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River cannot but cause concern, since foreign troops and special ops forces are stationed there, thus occupying that part of the Syrian Arab Republic.
"They were not invited. They are deployed there illegally and are still attempting to play the Kurdish card, as it tends to happen in the areas controlled by the Americans and their allies among the units fighting on the ground. We are convinced that the Kurdish issue needs to be solved in full compliance with the respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of the states where Kurds live," Lavrov noted.
"We hope that the United States alongside all those assisting it on the ground, including our French counterparts, should practice what they preach regularly and solemnly about respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the Syrian Arab Republic," he concluded.