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Lavrov: Russia condemns Israeli strikes on Syria, demands to comply with international law

According to the Russian foreign minister, Russia demands that Israel "respect UN Security Council resolutions and, above all, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic"

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Russia strongly condemned Israel's strikes on the Syrian territory and demanded compliance with international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday at a news conference following talks with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad.

"We strongly condemned the dangerous practice of Israeli strikes on the Syrian territory, including that very disturbing episode when the Damascus international airport was attacked on June 10 and when the Tartus port was shelled," he said.

Russia, Lavrov stressed, demands that Israel "respect UN Security Council resolutions and, above all, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic."

According to the minister, Russia advocates that "neither Syria's sovereignty nor the basic norms of international law should ever be violated." "This also applies to a number of other countries that are carrying out illegal activities on Syrian territory, including the American activity," the Russian top diplomat pointed out. Lavrov stressed that "this activity, unfortunately, also involves the encouragement of separatism in direct violation of the UN Security Council resolution."

The minister said that at the meeting with his Syrian counterpart he also discussed the broader situation in the Middle East region. "We have general satisfaction with the way relations between the Syrian Arab Republic and other Arab countries of the League of Arab States are being normalized," he said, "We are ready to contribute in any way we can to the further development of this positive trend."

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov Syria

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