Lavrov: US-led coalition’s threats over advance on al-Tanf area affect Syrian sovereignty

Moscow – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed on Tuesday that the threats launched by the US-led coalition over Syrian army’s advance on al-Tanf area in the Syrian Badia (desert) directly affect the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic, stressing that these issues need to be resolved, SANA reported.

“As you know, there were not only threats, but also the fact of the specific use of force in that area. I think that this situation is very alarming, as it directly affects the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic. Of course, these issues require settlement, which is what our military is currently engaged in,” Lavrov said in a press conference with his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama.

“The work is ongoing within the framework of the channel which was created earlier to prevent unintentional incidents between the Russian Aerospace Forces and the US-led coalition. Everything would be resolved much more effectively if the United States agreed to join the work to coordinate the parameters of the de-escalation zones via this channel which is rather limited in its agenda,” Lavrov added.

He pointed out that the results of this work will be brought to the next meeting of the participants of the Astana meeting which should take place soon.

“We are ready to welcome the United States joining not only the attempts to avoid incidents but also the work to define de-escalation zones,” he said.

On Monday, activists circulated on social networking sites about leaflets dropped by the US-led coalition to warn the Syrian Arab Army and its allies against advancing towards al-Tanf border crossing with Iraq, knowing that the United States is setting up a camp for training terrorist militias under the pretext of fighting the terrorist organization.