Comment by foreign minister Sergey Lavrov comes after several terrorist groups launched a surprise offensive in Syria
The use of terrorists to reach geopolitical goals, as is currently happening with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group in Syria, is unacceptable, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We are absolutely convinced of the inadmissibility of using terrorists like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to achieve geopolitical goals, as it is now being done by orchestrating the offensive in the Idlib de-escalation zone,” Lavrov said on Sunday, after meeting with Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers in Qatar.
The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Iran, and Russia met in the capital, Doha, on Saturday to discuss the lightning rebel advance in Syria.
The militant group Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of Jabhat al-Nusra, along with its allies, launched a surprise offensive against Syrian government forces last week, capturing large swaths of territory, including parts of Aleppo and the city of Hama. The Syrian military has redeployed forces to threatened regions, with the support of Russian warplanes.
Earlier this week, Lavrov suggested that the HTS offensive could be supported by the US and the UK, emphasizing that Moscow is working with Türkiye and Iran to stabilize the situation.
President Bashar Assad has vowed to “eliminate terrorists” who attacked the country and to punish their “sponsors and supporters,” amid media reports that militants received training from Ukrainian military intelligence.
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