Lavrov Says Declaration of Deconfliction Zones without Damascus Consent Illegitimate

MOSCOW-  Moscow considers that the declaration of ‘deconfliction zones’ in Syria not endorsed by Damascus is illegitimate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“We consider that the unilateral declaration of deconfliction territories without the consent of Damascus is illegitimate. We hope that the coalition will abide by the agreement reached with us that de-escalation zones must be agreed on in details with all the parties concerned,” Lavrov said, according to Itar Tass.

 The top diplomat noted that Russia, Turkey and Iran put forward proposals for discussion by all the parties concerned on creating de-escalation zones. This approach has been coordinated with the Syrian government and is now elaborated in details.

Speaking on the US-led coalition’s claims that it attacked Syria’s pro-government forces near At Tanf as they had breached a “deconfliction zone,” Lavrov said: “I don’t know anything about these zones.” “Probably, this refers to the territories, which were declared unilaterally as the zones where only the coalition can run things,” he said, stressing: “We cannot recognize these zones.”.