Lavrov: US Administration Does not Have Comprehensive Strategy in Dealing with Crisis in Syria

Moscow-Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed on Sunday that the US administration does not have a comprehensive strategy in dealing with the crisis in Syria.

In an interview with Russia’s TV Channel One, Lavrov said that there are different positions and groups within the US administration, some of them prefer diplomacy in dealing with the situation in Syria while others want to make the use of force as an exist option, SANA reported.

 Lavrov said that Russia cannot see that the US is seriously fighting Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization in Syria, pointing out that ISIS terrorist organization began to receive serious hits after the intervention of the Russian Air Force at a request from the Syrian government, adding that the intensity of the Russian raids and their results cannot be compared to what the Coalition’s aircrafts are doing.

“US bombers very often return to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey or to other bases they use, with unspent ammunition,” Lavrov noted.

The Russian Minister described Washington’s thinking of hitting the Syrian military airports as dangerous games in the presence of Russian air defense systems there.

“This is a very dangerous game, given that Russia, being in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate government of this country and having two bases there, has air defense systems there to protect its assets,” he pointed out, adding that the US military understand that.

About the operations carried out by the Russian Air Force in Aleppo, Lavrov said that the call of Western countries to stop these operations is suspicious because “despite the fact that the forces present in the city are essentially Jabhat al-Nusra, they say that among the terrorists of al-Nusra there are moderates who were forced to join it.”