Moscow concerned coalition may strike at Syrian regions not controlled by IS — Lavrov

Russia is concerned that coalition forces conducting air strikes at positions of terrorists in Iraq and Syria may also attack those regions of the Syrian state where there are no terrorists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday at Russia’s Diplomatic Academy.
Lavrov drew attention to the fact that after declaring the establishment of a coalition to fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, the US did not consult the Syrian leadership and refused to turn to the UN Security Council on this issue, saying that "the Assad regime cannot be a partner."

"This is a two-faced position because just recently, the Assad regime was a wonderful, reliable and effective partner in the issue of eliminating chemical weapons in Syria," Lavrov said. "Double standards lead us to think that these air strikes that are delivered at regions controlled by terrorists on the Syrian territory will later be delivered at other regions of the Syrian state which are not controlled by terrorists, and I hope, will never be controlled by them," he added.

"We call for the fight against terrorism to be carried out on the basis of international law," the minister stressed. "In this case, the use of force requires, of course, the agreement of the country, on the territory of which it is happening, and the corresponding UN Security Council sanction," he noted.

It should not be forgotten that IS "did not appear out of the blue," Lavrov said. "It had powerful external sponsors," he noted. "They [sponsors] still remain, but they are not as active in supporting it [the terrorist group] because they understand that it is a genie released from the bottle, and, in the end, it will turn against those who created it," the minister said.

"The lack of long-term planning in US actions over the last 12-15 years is obvious," Lavrov noted. "There is no strategic vision — only [current] political environment. [They only want] to do something that can be presented as a success in foreign policy at the eve of another presidential campaign. These are costs of democracy. They think more about their electoral cycles than about fates of entire countries and regions," Lavrov concluded.