The American military presence in Syria is illegal, and therefore Washington has no right to criticize Russia, which acts there legitimately and at the invitation of the Syrian authorities, the Russian embassy in the US said this on its Twitter page on Wednesday.
"We would like to remind you: the US military presence in Syria is primarily illegal. Thus, the US does not have any right to criticize the legitimate actions of the Russian Armed Forces, which operate in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government," the message said.
This is how the Russian diplomatic mission commented on a report released Tuesday by acting Pentagon Inspector General Sean O'Donnell, which claims that the actions of the Russian military in northeastern Syria violate the conflict resolution mechanism. The report says that "while Russian forces have largely adhered to the mechanism, the number of violations has increased slightly from the previous quarter."
According to the US version, the violations concern the inclusion of an additional vehicle in a pre-arranged patrol convoy. In addition, the coalition is allegedly improperly notified about the passage of military vehicles or overflight of fighter aircraft from Russia to Syria. The document notes, however, that "these violations did not pose a threat to the coalition forces".
Russia has two parallel tracks in Syria: helping the legitimate government to eliminate the remnants of terrorist elements and helping the Syrian parties to engage in political dialogue. The US, unlike Russia, is in Syria without an invitation from the Syrian government.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Anatoly Bochinin / TASS
Based on materials from TASS