Zakharova: US Presence near Al-Tanf Violates Syria’s Sovereignty

MOSCOW- The United States’ illegal presence in the Al-Tanf area is a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

“The US military’s illegal presence near Al-Tanf and its blocking of the important transport link between Damascus and Baghdad is a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty,” she said, according to Itar Tass.

The Russian diplomat pointed to “the hysteria over Damascus and Moscow’s alleged unwillingness to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2401, which has been fueled by the foreign sponsors of radical extremists and biased media.” “I would like to reiterate that Russia voted in favor of the resolution and right after its approval took practical steps to implement its major provisions,” Zakharova noted.

 No one should expect Moscow to hinder Syria’s efforts to fight terrorism

“We will continue down the same path,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman stressed. “However, no one should expect us to hinder the Syrian authorities’ efforts to fight terrorism,” she added.

 Russia has done everything possible to avoid armed conflict with US

Zakharova told the Govorit Moskva radio station on Friday that by strengthening its defense capabilities, Moscow has made every possible effort to avoid an armed conflict with Washington.

 “This is what yesterday’s address was about,” she said. “Everything has been done to prevent it,” Zakharova said when asked if direct armed conflict between Russia and the United States was possible.

According to the Russian diplomat, all Moscow’s efforts to engage Washington in talks went in vain. “We are ready for a different kind of conversation. It will not be based on requests and explanations of threats to our security. We will conduct the conversation from a totally different position,” Zakharova said.

Russian president’s address

In his Thursday’s address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had developed and tested new strategic weapons in response to Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the missile defense agreement and the deployment of missile defenses both on the US territory and in other countries.

The new weapons particularly include the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, the Kinzhal hypersonic complex, a nuclear cruise missile, as well as an underwater drone capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons.

At the same time, the head of state stressed that Russia’s growing military capabilities were a strong guarantee of global peace, while all activities aimed at strengthening the country’s defense capacity were in line with the current arms control agreements.

H.M