Zakharova Reminds Western Partners about Their ‘Successes’ in Iraq, Lybia, Afghanistan

MOSCOW- Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Sunday jogged the memory of the Western partner about their “successes” in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan in comment to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drina’s statement that Russia has “arrogated” the defeat of Daesh in Syria, Itar Tass reported.

 “The Western partners have been saying in the recent days that it was not Russia but them, the coalition to defeat Islamic State (Daesh) in Syria. The last to say this was French Foreign Minister Mr. Le Drian,” she wrote on her Facebook account. “Dear Sirs, stop it! Your successes are Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. Come on, be proud of them.”

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Russia had misappropriated the victory over the Daesh terrorist organization in Syria. In an interview with BFMTV he claimed that forces of the international coalition had pushed the terrorists away, and the Russian military came to assist the Syrian government forces and in the end liberated Deir ez-Zor with a certain delay.

MoD: US-Led Coalition’s Airstrikes Focused on Attacking Syrian Army Positions, Bombing Raqqa and its Civilians

In the same context,  Russia’s Defense Ministry is bewildered at the statement made by France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian that Russia has misappropriated the victory over “Islamic State”( IS, ISIS or Daesh), the ministry said on Sunday.

“The defeat of IS in Syria is first of all result of actions by the Syrian leadership and governmental forces,” the ministry said. “With support of the Russian Aerospace Force, the Syrian armed forces liberated from IS terrorists hundreds of settlements and returned under control of the legitimate leadership practically the entire territory of the country.”

Over that time, the international coalition led by the US focused on counter-acting the Syrian government forces, including direct air strikes on their positions in Deir ez-Zor, the ministry said. Over three year of existence, the so-called anti-ISIS coalition “only succeeded in delivering mass bombing of Raqqa and its civilians,” the Defense Ministry said.

H.M