WEB DESK
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the US of trying to divide Syria while ignoring international law by launching missiles into the country. Lavrov made the accusations yesterday while meeting his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Moscow following their talks on the seven-year Syrian war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The meeting was meant to prepare the groundwork for the ninth round of Astana talks to be held next month in Kazakhstan, which will focus on political and humanitarian issues. After the meeting, the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran have issued a joint warning that they would not tolerate any attempt to undermine their plans to de-escalate and eventually bring about an end to the civil war in Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov told a news conference that Russia, Turkey and Iran signed off on some concrete steps towards a solution in Syria. Russia, Iran and Turkey see themselves as guarantor states in negotiations between the Syrian opposition and government. They say the Astana process, aimed at ending the violence in Syria, is the only way of reducing tensions.
At the meeting, all three ministers agreed Syria must remain a sovereign and whole entity. American statements about supporting the territorial integrity of Syria “are only words that, apparently, cover plans for reformatting the Middle East and plans for dividing Syria into parts”, Lavrov said.