Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Moscow, SANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Iran are legally present in Syria upon the invitation of the Syrian government to participate in the war on terror while the presence of the US-led coalition is illegal.
According to Russia’s top diplomat, Russia and the US “did not discuss specifically and in detail” the developments in Syria.
“We state the fact of our and Iranian legitimate presence at the invitation of the legitimate government. We also state the fact of the illegitimate presence of the coalition that has been forged by the United States and which carries out military operations, including independent ones, primarily providing support for the opposition armed groups on Syrian soil and in its airspace,” the minister stressed.
“In particular, we discussed with the Americans a mechanism for the de-escalation zone’s operation in Syria’s southwest,” Lavrov said in a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday, referring to the Russian-US talk at the APEC Summit held recently in Vietnam.
He added that Jordanian representatives also took part in hammering out the deal, stressing that there was no talk about so-called “goals on Syria”.
“If one looks at who poses the biggest threat, it is the United States’ charges, specifically, various foreign terrorists and militants, who ‘cling’ to those armed opposition groups backed by the US,” the foreign minister said commenting on recent statements by US Department of State officials who said Washington had secured Moscow’s promise to ensure the withdrawal of pro-Iranian units from Syria and prevent their consolidation in the country.
M.al-Frieh/H. Said
