Lavrov to Egyptian Newspaper: Trump’s Declaration on Occupied Syrian Golan Undermines Stability in Middle East

CAIRO- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stressed that the US recognition of Israel’s annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan poses threat to stability in the Middle East.

According to Itar Tass, Washington’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of Syria’s Golan has once again revealed the US determination “to destroy the generally accepted foundation of the international law, which lays the basis for the quest to find ways of settling the Middle East issue.”

He added that US actions in the Middle East are in line with Washington’s policy of “destroying the cornerstone international agreements, of replacing the international law with what it calls the ‘rule-based order.’”

Moscow fully recognizes Syria’s sovereignty over Golan

Russia’s top diplomat reiterated that Moscow fully recognizes Syria’s sovereignty over the territory and its stance on the Golan issue remains unchanged.

 “We are consistently guided by the UN Security Council Resolution 497, dated December 17, 1981, according to which Israel’s decision to establish its laws, jurisdiction and sovereignty over the above-mentioned territory of Syria is null and void,” he continued. “The overwhelming majority of the international community members, including United States’ closest allies, share the same stance.”

On March 25, US President Donald Trump signed a declaration recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan in flagrant violation of international law and UN Charter.

Russia’s stance on inadmissibility of Israeli shelling of Syria unchanged

Lavrov also said that Russia proceeds from the need for rigorous respect for Syria’s sovereignty and the inadmissibility of Israeli shelling of Syria’s territory.

“Our principled stance concerning shelling Syria’s territory has remained unchanged. We have always clearly expressed our attitude to that. We proceed from the need for strict respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We are opposed to turning the country’s territory into a scene of armed standoff between various regional players,” he said when asked to comment on remarks by some political analysts about softening Moscow’s stance on Israeli shelling, according to Tass.

Russia regrets US preconditions for Syria Rebuilding

Elsewhere in the interview,Lavrov said that Moscow regrets Washington’s opinion that efforts to rebuild Syria should begin only after “the political transition of power is over”, Tass said.

According to Lavrov, efforts of post-war reconstruction and humanitarian assistance are now taking the center stage in the country.

“We need to help all Syrians in need, without preconditions and politicization,” Russia’s top diplomat said. In this respect, he said, Moscow regrets the stance of the United States and the European Union, who keep linking – including publicly – the allocation of funds for rebuilding Syria to what they call “political transition”.

“If this is not politicization of humanitarian assistance, then what is?”he asked.

He added that Moscow keeps rendering all possible support to Damascus in rebuilding infrastructure and delivering humanitarian cargo both through bilateral channels and via international mechanisms, including the UN and its agencies.

Russia supports political solution in Syria based on respecting the country’s  sovereignty, territorial integrity

Also, Lavrov reiterated that Moscow’s approach to the crisis in Syria is well known. “We consistently support a political solution based on respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, with respect to norms of the international law.”

As the situation in Syria stabilizes and improves, those who nurtured opposition and radical groups in Syria, openly demanding to topple the Syrian government, have eventually started to realize the need to take a similar approach, Lavrov said.

According to Lavrov, the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland remains another important topic in Syria’s post-war reconstruction.

“Russia’s initiative on the matter was supported by many countries in the region. We are working with our partners to put it into practice,” Russia’s top diplomat said.

Syria is unalienable part of the Arab world

The Russian top diplomat went on to say  that Syria remained among the most important Middle Eastern nations and an unalienable part of the Arab world.

“It cannot be artificially excluded from the regional context in order to satisfy myopic, politicized, timeserving views,” Lavrov said. “In this regard, we welcome Damascus’ soonest return to the Arab family. This natural and objective process is a clear evidence that the military conflict has ended, that the country has been gradually returning to normal, peaceful life.”

H.M