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Lavrov: US-led coalition should be guided by international law

It is unclear why the US got the consent of Iraq but did not ask Damascus for a similar consent and did not come to the UN Security Council to agree upon a legal basis, Russia's top diplomat wonders
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
© AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

ROME, December 11. /TASS/. Russia considers the US-led anti-terror coalition a potentially effective partner but it should be guided by the international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"We consider the coalition formed by the US a potentially effective partner," Lavrov said after talks with his Italian counterpart, Paolo Gentiloni. "But it should rest upon the firm ground of the international law and UN Security Council’s decisions to be really effective."

"It is unclear why the United State got the consent of Iraq but did not ask Damascus for a similar consent and did not come to the UN Security Council to agree upon a legal basis, which would give no one any political or other complications," Lavrov said. "However, the American coalition is reality."

"We are satisfied with more intensive activities of the US coalition over the past two months when the Russian aerospace forces were carrying out the air operation at the Syrian government’s request," the minister said. "In particular, at this moment the coalition’s aircraft began bombing targets linked to the illegal trade of oil from the fields seized by ISIL."

"I think that in addition to the coalition’s physical extension it should focus on the quality of its work," he added.

Russia is not seeking to join the US-led coalition to fight against the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria, but wants coordination on an equal basis, Russian Foreign Minister noted.

"We are still talking about coordination, and not about joining the American coalition," Lavrov said, adding that Moscow wants to coordinate actions with the coalition on an equal basis.