Russia draws attention to the plundering of oil in US-controlled areas of Syria, attempts to justify the American presence with UN Resolution 2254 look clumsy, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said at a Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
"The economic situation is difficult, it is exacerbated by sanctions, as well as the continued looting of Syrian oil, which bypasses Damascus and is openly exported from US-controlled oil-producing areas in northeastern Syria," the Russian permanent representative said. - "Against this background, attention was drawn to the clumsy attempts of the US military to justify in the public space the US occupation of the north-east and south-east of Syria with references to the UN Security Council Resolution 2254."
On August 9, Colonel Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for the US-led international anti-terrorist coalition, claimed in a Twitter message that US forces in the northeast Arab republic have a "clear mandate" to be present "in accordance with international law - UN Security Council Resolution 2254." The resolution, adopted in December 2015, calls for a cease-fire and the participation of representatives of the Syrian government and opposition in negotiations on the political order of the country.
Nebenzya called on the US "not to look for excuses where there cannot be," but to focus on implementing the resolution. "The document reaffirms the imperative of respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country," he stressed.
The diplomat noted that a ceasefire is maintained in most parts of Syria, but the situation remains worrisome. According to him, "regular shelling along the perimeter of Idlib de-escalation zone, clashes between Kurds and local Arab tribes in the north of Syria, force actions in the Syrian-Iraqi border area and arbitrary Israeli attacks continue."
US presence
Most of Syria's eastern and northeastern provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa are now controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Syrian Forces, which are supported by the United States. Since 2015, the US command has established nine military bases in the area. Four of them are near the oil fields in Deir ez-Zor and another five in the neighboring province of Al-Hasakah, which is considered Syria's breadbasket.
In late 2019, then-President Donald Trump approved a plan to keep several hundred US troops in Syria, and one of their main tasks would be to control the oil fields in the northeast and east of the country.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS