MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-LAVROV Russia flying military equipment and aid to Syria - Lavrov
Record ID:
140096
MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-LAVROV Russia flying military equipment and aid to Syria - Lavrov
- Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-LAVROV Russia flying military equipment and aid to Syria - Lavrov
- Date: 10th September 2015
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2015) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS CAMERA OPERATORS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "The Russian Federation is sending both military equipment, according to existing contracts and humanitarian aid with the planes that head to Syria. So depending on the type of the cargo a plane carries, we ask for the relevant permission in full accordance with international norms." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We have helped and will continue aiding the Syrian government in equipping the Syrian army with all that is necessary for it to prevent a repetition in Syria of the Libyan scenario and other sad events that have occurred in this region, because of an obsession by some of our western partners with ideas of changing unwanted regimes." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "I think that it is a colossal mistake. It was a mistake already that the coalition created by the United States did not even plan to cooperate in any way with the Syrian government, it did not even plan to inform the Syrian government of what these countries planned to do, while performing strikes on Syrian territory, as they say at Islamic State positions." LAVROV AND FOREIGN MINISTERS OF SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN LEAVING CONFERENCE HALL
- Embargoed: 25th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2A67KZWK9ET2C0YM7TFBO60TI
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russia is to fly both military equipment and humanitarian aid to Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday (September 10).
"The Russian Federation is sending both military equipment, according to existing contracts and humanitarian aid with the planes that head to Syria. So depending on the type of the cargo a plane carries, we ask for the relevant permission in full accordance with international norms," Lavrov said.
Russia has set out the case in recent days for supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in the most forthright terms yet, likening the Western approach to Syria to failures in Iraq and Libya.
Part of the diplomatic quarrel has centered around use of air space for flights, which Moscow says brings humanitarian aid but U.S. officials say may be bringing military supplies.
Moscow has previously insisted in public that its flights to Syria are only humanitarian. Washington has put pressure on Greece and Bulgaria in recent days to deny Russia's requests to use their airspace for its Syria flights.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow Lavrov also said Russia has never denied its military experts were present in Syria.
"We have helped and will continue aiding the Syrian government in equipping the Syrian army with all that is necessary for it to prevent a repetition in Syria of the Libyan scenario and other sad events that have occurred in this region, because of an obsession by some of our western partners with ideas of changing unwanted regimes," Lavrov added.
Tension has built in recent days between the United States and Russia over Moscow's support for Assad, who also has strong backing from Iran.
Officials in the United States, which is fighting an air war against the Islamist militant group Islamic State in Syria and also opposes Assad's government, have said in recent days that they suspect Russia is reinforcing to aid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's ally since the Cold War.
Momentum has turned against Assad in recent months in the four year, multi-sided civil war which has killed around 250,000 people and driven around half of Syria's 23 million people from their homes.
In the latest major battlefield setback, state television reported that government troops had surrendered control of an air base in northwestern Syria to an alliance of rebels after nearly two years under siege.
Coalitions of rebels, who range from hardline Sunni Islamists like Nusra to more secular nationalists, have made gains in the northwest and southwest of the country, often fighting against both the government and Islamic State fighters who control much of the east of Syria as well as northern Iraq.
Speaking on Thursday Lavrov said he believed western coalition's approach to fight against Islamic State without coooperation with Assad was 'a mistake'.
"I think that it is a colossal mistake. It was a mistake already that the coalition created by the United States did not even plan to cooperate in any way with the Syrian government, it did not even plan to inform the Syrian government of what these countries planned to do, while performing strikes on Syrian territory, as they say at Islamic State positions," he said.
Russia says the Syrian government must be incorporated into a shared fight against Islamic State. The United States and Assad's foes including Sunni states Turkey and Saudi Arabia see him as part of the problem. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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