Sept 21, 2020.
The Russian
Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, considered that the military confrontation
between the Syrian government and the opposition in the country has ended,
noting that there are only two hotspots in Syria, namely Idlib and the areas
east of the Euphrates.
Lavrov said, in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV, whose text
was published on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on
Monday: “I recently returned from Damascus, where I visited with the Russian
Deputy Prime Minister, Yuri Borisov, who held talks on prospects of economic
cooperation, while I discussed with colleagues political situations. ”
He continued, “I do not think that those who have spoken
with the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, and other state officials, can say
that the government of the Syrian Arab Republic is only counting on a military
solution to the conflict. This is not true. The military confrontation between
the country’s government and the opposition is over.”
He explained, “Idlib’s lands are under the control of the
Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham (Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham), but this area
is being narrowed. Our Turkish colleagues, based on the Russian-Turkish
memorandum, continue to fight terrorists and separate the moderate opposition
from them.”
He continued, “The second hotspot is the eastern side of the
Euphrates River, where the American military personnel operating in the area
illegally united with the separatist forces, and are playing with the Kurds in
an irresponsible manner.”
Lavrov stressed that the U.S. military “brought American oil
companies to the region and started pumping oil for their own purposes without
respecting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as stipulated in
Resolution 2254 of the United Nations Security Council.”
In a related context, Lavrov said, in response to a question
about fears of a joint attack by the Syrian and Russian forces on Idlib: “There
is a Russian-Turkish memorandum that is still in full force, and patrols on the
M-4 road have been stopped due to security motives, because HTS always carries
out armed provocations and attacks the positions of the Syrian government
forces, and also tries to attack the Russian air base in Hmeimim. ”
He added: “Our Turkish colleagues affirmed their commitment
to fighting terrorism and separating real opponents who are ready for
negotiations with the government from terrorists. There is no need for the
Syrian army and its allies to launch any attack on Idlib. It is only necessary
to target terrorist sites and eliminate their only remaining outpost on Syrian
territory.”
