Al-Moallem Meets Lavrov in Moscow, stresses US-Turkish-Israeli conspiracy on Syria continues aiming to hinder its counterterrorism efforts

MOSCOW, (ST) – Deputy Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid al-Moallem has affirmed that the United States, Turkey, Israel and some countries in the region continue their conspiracy against Syria to hinder its counterterrorism efforts, particularly against the blacklisted Jabhat al-Nusra terror group.

Al-Moallem made the remarks on Monday during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow before the launching of the Syrian-Russian Committee for Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

He said that the Turkish regime is pressing ahead with its aggression on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the United States keeps plundering Syrian oil resources in a clear piracy act.

“Not only that, Washington has recently sent drones to bombard Syrian oil facilities in Homs and the Israeli enemy yesterday attacked Syrian territories by firing several missiles on Damascus and its vicinity,” al-Moallem added.

He thanked Russia and China for vetoing a draft resolution that violates Syria’s sovereignty under the pretext of transporting humanitarian aid across borders, pointing out that this double veto confirms the Russian and Chinese stance towards the need to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He hoped that economic relations between Syria and Russia will be upgraded to the level of the strong political and military ties, noting that the Syrian government has given priority to the Russian companies to participate in Syria’s reconstruction process, because of Russia’s great support for Syria in the fight against terrorism.

On his part, Lavrov said that bilateral relations between Russia and Syria are witnessing dynamic development based on the directives of the presidents of the two countries, pointing out that the results of the previous Syrian-Russian Committee for cooperation were positive and promising.

“We highly appreciate this opportunity for exchanging view points with minister al-Moallem on how to reactivate cooperation between our two countries,” said Lavrov, adding that “an integral part of this cooperation is to continue coordination in the relentless battle against the remnants of terrorist organizations in Syria till the complete elimination of terrorism.”

Lavrov made it clear that Syria is moving to an era of stability and reconstruction in which huge economic projects are to be launched. “This has become a fact after the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian air forces, has controlled wide areas of the Syrian territory after liberating them from terrorism.”

The Russian top diplomat appreciated launching the work of the constitutional committee on Syria in Geneva despite efforts aiming to hamper its work, stressing the need for a political solution to the crisis in Syria in accordance with Security Council Resolution No. 2254 which stresses that the Syrians are the ones who have the exclusive right to decide the future of their country away from foreign interference.

Lavrov reiterated the importance of commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity, calling on the international community to help the displaced Syrians return home.

Hamda Mustafa