UNITED NATIONS, December 4. /TASS/. Washington has been trying to preserve its de-facto occupation of Syria’s northeastern regions by all means, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"The equally destructive factor is Washington's aspiration to preserve its de facto occupation of the oil, gas and agricultural resource-rich areas in north-eastern Syria. The United States and its allies are using every opportunity to sow chaos in the country, applying sanctions to asphyxiate the country’s economy and supporting Idlib-based terrorists and the extremist underground in the SAR [Syrian Arab Republic]," he told a UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

In his words, the United States is openly attempting to "whitewash" Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS, terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) by presenting it as a kind of allegedly moderate Syrian opposition.

"Such 'double standards' are unacceptable and the fight against international terrorist groups, which have been designated as such by the UN Security Council, must certainly continue. We expect Washington and its satellites today to unconditionally condemn the action of the former Al-Nusra affiliates and to express support for the legitimate Syrian government, which has been attacked by terrorists, as Syria's neighbors and the members of the Arab League have done," Nebenzya said.

"As practice has shown, the use of terrorists for the advancement of parochial geopolitical interests always turns against their own patrons," the Russian diplomat added.

Units of the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (outlawed in Russia) staged a large-scale attack on Syria’s northern governorates early on November 27. According to the Syrian government army command, the terrorists attempted to seize a number of neighborhoods and military facilities, attacking the positions of government forces. The Syrian army launched an operation to repel the attack.

On November 30, the Syrian army command said that government forces were delivering strikes on terrorists’ positions in Aleppo. According to the Syrian defense ministry, the army had to regroup to save the lives of civilians and its troops and prepare for a counterattack.