FILE IMAGE: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED BADRA
Recent statements made by US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley on a possible strike against Syria “raise indignation and extreme concern,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on March 13.
“In fact, Washington is doing its utmost to cover up and preserve terrorist groupings, which are active near Damascus and in other provinces of Syria,” the ministry said. “At the same time, the real situation in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, which terrorists use to systematically shell the residential areas of the Syrian capital, is distorted.”
The statement emphasized that attempts by the US and its allies to misinterpret the UN Resolution on Eastern Ghouta, which excludes terrorist groupings from the ceasefire, are unacceptable.
The ministry is also concered over “the incoming information on militants’ preparations to imitate the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government troops against civilians as the basis to justify US unilateral strikes against Damascus and government facilities in Syria.”
“Such criminal actions may also create a threat to the lives of Russian military advisers, including representatives of the Centre for the Reconciliation of the Warring Sides, who are staying at establishments in Damascus and at facilities of the Syrian Defense Ministry,” the foreign ministry said. “In this case, required retaliatory measures will be taken.“
The ministry further added that US statements in favor of the political process in the war-torn country are a blatant hypocrisy because US forces illegally occupy a significant part of Syria.
