Russian foreign minister: US-patronaged fighters pose most danger in Syria

The most danger in Syria is coming from US-patronaged foreign terrorists who stick to those groups of armed opposition that are supported by the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced at a briefing on Nov 14.

He reminded of an agreement to seek that all non-Syrian groups in the region withdraw from the line of contact, but “it is a two-way street,” the minister noted.

“We have not discussed in detail with our US colleagues what is going on in the whole territory of Syria, apart from the fact that we have fixed our and Iranian legitimate presence under an invitation of the legitimate Syrian government. Besides, we have fixed the fact of illegitimate presence of the coalition cobbled together by the United States which is taking military actions, including independent ones, by first of all by supporting opposition military groups in the territory and airspace of Syria,” Lavrov noted.

According to the minister, Russia and the United States discussed in detail only mechanisms of functioning of the de-escalation area in south-western Syria. “The agreement is open, you can read its text, if you have not done this before. Together with us and Americans, representatives of Jordan participated in its preparation, and, as mentioned, informal consultations with Israel were held taking into account that the area is very close to the Golan Heights. In the context of certain decisions on how the area will be functioning and how to avoid clashes, it says that both inside and outside the area one should seek withdrawal of non-Syrian forces from that territory. If we speak of pro-Iranian forces, probably, someone would like to call almost the whole Syria pro-Iranian. Should they capitulate? It looks like wishful thinking,” the Russian foreign minister stressed.