Demitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin
Russia has criticized the United States over its plans to support militants in Syria, saying it could further escalate the chaotic situation in the Arab country.
The spokesman for the Kremlin said Monday that Washington’s plans together with Turkey’s to provide air cover for some militants operating inside Syria could undermine the central government’s ability to fight Takfiri groups like ISIL.
“Of course, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the aid, especially financial or technical, to the opposition in Syria, leads to further destabilization of the situation in the country,” Russian media quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Washington and Ankara have declared that by helping the so-called “moderate” armed groups fighting ISIL in Syria, they aim to weaken the group in order to purge it from the long strip of land it controls along the Turkish border.
Peskov said, however, that the schemes would seriously hamper the Syrian government’s ability to fight ISIL.
“This essentially creates a situation which could be used by terrorists of [the so-called] Islamic State (ISIL),” Peskov said, adding that the move causes “the weakened leadership” in Damascus to simply lose its potential to stop the growth of the terrorist group.
The Russian official added that growing interest from the US to intervene in Syria clearly exposes the difference between Moscow and Washington’s positions toward more than four years of conflict in the Arab country.
“And this is absolutely no secret. We have never hushed up these differences,” Peskov added.
Since last year, the US-led so-called international coalition against ISIL have been hitting the positions of the group in Syria without the authorization of Damascus or a UN mandate. The Syrian government has criticized the uncoordinated attacks, saying they violate the country’s sovereignty.