Lavrov: We will not clash with the United States in Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a press conference today, Monday, that Russia will not engage in clashes with the United States in Syria, and that his country has proposed to Israel to inform it of security threats emanating from the territories of Syria in order to ensure that they are addressed.

Lavrov said, “We have contacts with the United States through military channels, not because we recognize the legitimacy of its presence in Syria, but simply because it must act in a certain framework.”

He added, “We cannot expel them from there, we will not engage in armed clashes with them of course, but due to their presence there, we are conducting a dialogue with them about the so-called non-conflict, and among other things, we strongly demand that force is not used against the sites of the Syrian state.”

Lavrov revealed that his country proposed to Israel to inform it of the supposed security threats emanating from the lands of Syria, in order to ensure that they are addressed so that Syria is not an arena for regional conflicts.

Lavrov said, “If Israel is compelled, as they say, to respond to threats to its security emanating from the Syrian territories, we have told our Israeli colleagues several times: If you spot such threats, please provide us with relevant information.”

Lavrov stressed that Russia does not want “to use Syrian lands against Israel, or not to use, as many wish, an arena for the Iranian-Israeli confrontation.”

Addressing Israel, he added, “If you have facts stating that a threat to your state emanates from part of the Syrian territories, inform us immediately of these facts, and we will take all measures to neutralize this threat.”

Lavrov explained that Moscow has not yet received a concrete response to this proposal, but it continues to put forward it.