MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned over Washington’s threats to use force against Syria’s military, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"As you know, there have been not only threats [of using force by the US against Syria’s army], but a fact of using force in this area [Al-Tanaf on the border between Syria and Iraq]," Lavrov said.
"I believe this situation is rather alarming as it directly affects Syria’s sovereignty. Certainly, these issues need to be solved, and our troops are doing this now," the Russian top diplomat has noted.
"I believe this situation is rather alarming as it directly affects Syria’s sovereignty. Certainly, these issues need to be solved, and our troops are doing this now," Russia’s top diplomat said.
The effort is underway now through a channel set up to prevent unintentional incidents between Russia’s Aerospace Forces and the US-led coalition, Lavrov said.
"But of course, the effort would be much more efficient if in addition to the channel, which has a rather limited agenda, the US agreed to join the work on coordinating parameters of de-escalation zones," the Russian diplomat stressed.
The discussion is ongoing and the sides will discuss the results at another meeting in the Astana format, which is due to take place soon.
"We are ready to welcome the United States joining not only the attempts to avoid incidents but also the work to define de-escalation zones," he said.
As the US-led coalition headquarters reported, on May 18 the aircraft struck pro-Syrian government forces operating within the established de-escalation zone northwest of Al-Tanf. The statement claimed that these units posed a threat to the United States and its partners.
At the same time, Moscow is ready to welcome Washington joining the work aimed at defining the parameters of the Syrian de-escalation zones:
"We are ready to welcome the United States joining not only the attempts to avoid incidents but also the work to define de-escalation zones," Lavrov said.