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Lavrov says US began to develop more realistic view of Syrian crisis

Sergey Lavrov said that the regional states have also taken a more realistic view

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Russia has reasons to believe that a more realistic view of the Syrian settlement has begun to take shape in the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a news conference following talks with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Moscow.

"All the same, in recent months, the United States has developed a more realistic view of what is happening in Syria and how its actions regarding the Syrian settlement should line up. At least, we don't hear the hysterical statements we heard back in 2011-2012, that "the days of the regime are numbered," the head of the Russian diplomatic mission said.

He said that the regional states have also taken a more realistic view. "Not only the United States, but more and more countries of the region, the Arab countries, Syria's neighbors and the League of Arab States understand that they have to work with the legitimate representatives and leaders of the Syrian Arab Republic," Lavrov said, "We welcome this trend, and the sooner it takes the form of practical agreements and a search for practical solutions, the better it will be for the Syrian people and the peoples of the region."

At the same time, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry dubbed the actions of the Americans on the territory of the Arab republic "unacceptable." "Essentially, they have occupied the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, they deprive the legal Syrian authorities of access to hydrocarbon resources and grain food resources. We talked about that today, I think it's unacceptable," he continued, "The flirtations that we see in American policy with certain Kurdish structures, with the explicit aim of fomenting separatist sentiments, of course, are very dangerous games."

According to Lavrov, Russia is constantly sharpening these issues through US channels of contact with both military and diplomats working on the Syrian settlement. "We have our reasons to believe that the Americans will not miss it, although we do not see any concrete result," the diplomatic chief concluded.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov

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