Russia Accuses US Of Trying To Divide Syria

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the US of trying to divide Syria and ignoring international law by launching missiles into the country.

Lavrov said recent US-led missile strikes on Syria had “seriously aggravated the situation”, and that 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”.

His comments on Saturday were made during a meeting with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Moscow following talks on the seven-year Syrian war, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed

All three ministers agreed that Syria must remain a sovereign and whole entity. They also agreed to intensify efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the war torn country

Al Jazeera reports: 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.

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.

‘Reformatting Middle East’

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, adding Russia, Iran and Turkey will work together to ensure that won’t happen. 

“While we are building options for peace, some of our other colleagues are trying to destroy the results of our joint constructive efforts, not even following the international law like in the recent operation of the US, UK and France against Syria,” Lavrov said.