Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that solving the problem of the "illegal" presence of US forces in Syria could be difficult and that a war between his country and the United States would be "a disaster for humanity."
Lavrov told Sputnik that solving the problem of the "illegitimate" presence of the United States in Syria could be difficult, and that Washington was constantly setting new conditions and violating the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the Syrian territory, even though these principles are found in the Security Council's basic resolutions.
He added that the emergence of new US missiles threaten his country and its allies can not be ignored, stressing that Washington will not succeed in using Moscow as a tool to serve its interests.
The Russian foreign minister attributed the stalemate to the normalization of relations between Moscow and Washington to what he described as unfriendly American actions, and its attempts to pressure Moscow.
"The armed conflict involving the two main nuclear powers - Russia and the United States - will have catastrophic consequences for humanity," Lavrov said. "There can be no winners in a nuclear war and should never be unleashed."
The Russian foreign minister also said that the Turkish presence in Idlib was agreed with the Syrian regime, which welcomed the Sochi agreement. He said that the agreement provides for the deployment of Turkish observation points in the vicinity of Idlib and the Russian and Iranian observation points in its outer surroundings. "- Iran - support the agreement.
| Trump says Moscow has violated the medium and short-range missile treaty for years (Reuters) |
Step and scales
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Moscow Rania al-Deridi said Lavrov's remarks were not new, preceded by statements similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
During the past months, Russia has spoken a lot about Washington's intention to get out of the medium and short-range missile treaty and its implications for external security and stability.
According to the correspondent, the Russians had talked about that this move may turn the US balance of power, which will push Moscow to take additional steps to ensure its security and stability in the world.
The late President Ronald Reagan and the last leader of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, signed the Intermediate Nuclear Weapons Treaty in 1987, with the end of the Cold War.
The treaty prohibits the construction and acquisition of medium- and short-range missiles with nuclear weapons with a range of 500 to 5,500 km, including surface-to-air missiles and cruise missiles. The treaty ended a crisis in the 1980s because the Soviet Union deployed SS-20s with nuclear warheads capable of targeting Western capitals.
US President Donald Trump said Moscow had violated the treaty several years ago, and Washington specifically reserved for deploying the 9M 729 missile system, which has a range of 500 kilometers.
Trump also announced on Wednesday that the withdrawal of his country's troops from Syria after "historic victories" against the organization of the Islamic state, led to the resignation of Defense Minister James Matisse, who is opposed to the new strategy of the White House.