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MOSCOW – On Friday, Russia condemned US attacks on armed factions loyal to Iran in eastern Syria and demanded that Washington respect the country’s territorial integrity, also announcing that Washington had not informed it of these attacks in advance. while the Iraqi army, in its part, denied any coordination of information with the US side in the attack on factions loyal to Iran.
Washington and Moscow had agreed to coordinate any military operations in Syria for fear of possible air crashes, while the Syrian sky was filled with Russian fighters and others from the international coalition, including American fighters.
The Russian condemnation of the US operation reflects the growing tension between Moscow and the administration of US President Joe Biden, who began his first month in office by placing 15 Russians on the wanted list on “conspiracy” charges and is one of the records. along with the file of the Russian opposition figure Navalny, who casts his shadow over Russian-American relations.
“We strongly condemn such actions and call for respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria without conditions,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
Syria also condemned US airstrikes against Iranian-backed factions in the east of the country on Friday, describing it as a “cowardly” act, and urged President Joe Biden not to follow “the law of the jungle.”
Russia was a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the Syrian war, which erupted in 2011 following the crackdown on anti-government protests, and Moscow’s military intervention in 2015 helped to reverse the course of the war.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia wants to know about Washington’s plans in Syria and noted that the United States is not seeking to leave the country at all.
“Recently, we have heard different information from different sources… So far, we cannot confirm this and we would like to ask the Americans directly. It is suspected that they will make the decision not to leave Syria … until the country is destroyed, “he told reporters.
He added that the Russian and American armies are in constant contact on Syria, but stressed the importance of resuming contacts at the political and diplomatic level between Moscow and Washington regarding movements in the Syrian arena.
“It is very important for us to understand America’s strategic line on the ground and in the region as a whole,” Lavrov said.
The Russian minister explained that his country’s army was notified only four or five minutes before the United States bombed the targets on Thursday, noting that “this type of warning, when the attacks are ongoing, does not help us.”
Zakharova renewed Russia’s position by rejecting any attempt to turn Syria into a “geopolitical reckoning arena.”
On Thursday night, the United States bombed infrastructure used by armed factions loyal to Iran in eastern Syria, killing 22 Iraqi militants, in the Biden administration’s first military operation in response to recent attacks on interests. Westerners in Iraq.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights counted the killing of at least 22 members of Iraqi factions, most of whom were from the Hezbollah Brigades.
France supports US airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Syria, in response to attacks on the international coalition in Iraq, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
“In light of these unacceptable attacks, which we strongly condemn, we support our American allies,” the statement said.
On the Iraqi side, the Iraqi armed forces categorically denied having exchanged information with the United States about the attack on some sites within Syrian territories, after Washington launched air strikes against armed factions backed by Iran.
The Iraqi military said its cooperation with the US-led international coalition is limited to fighting ISIS.
