Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, commenting on the statements of US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker that Russia should "get out of the Middle East", called to remember the results of Washington's policy in the region.
"I would like to clarify which American project of the last two decades in the Middle East Schenker considers successful? < ... > We can't remember. Only death and destruction, " she told RIA Novosti.
Although, perhaps this is how Schenker sees the result of a "successful project", the diplomat added.
Oleg Morozov, a member of the Committee of the Federation Council on Foreign Affairs said that the US statement that Russia should "get out" of the Middle East because it plays a "destructive" role there is cynical and boorish.
"Americans often come to foreign lands illegally and start wars. We come when we are called to stop wars. Therefore, Schenker's statement is cynical and boorish, made to please the Russophobic mood in the country. But this does not make it smarter and more realistic," Morozov said.
He noted that in a geopolitical sense, the issue should be quite different: that the United States "get out of a huge number of geographical locations where they are located, including often against the will of the citizens of these countries."
"In the name of their geopolitical ambitions, the Americans have shed oceans of blood. But it's not just that. We are in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate leadership and in accordance with international law. And, by the way, the Middle East has always been a zone of our interests. And we will stay there as long as we see fit," the Senator said.
Russia is present in Syria at the invitation of the country's leadership is absolutely legitimate in contrast to the United States, and statements that the Russian Federation should "get out of the Middle East" - cynicism and arrogance, said the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky.
"Statements by the US Assistant Secretary of state about Russia's destructive role in the Middle East with calls to "get out" are just cynicism and arrogance. The Russian Federation is in the SAR absolutely legitimately at the invitation of the country's leadership, which is not true of the United States. No one called the United States to Syria, Iraq, or Libya," RIA Novosti quotes Slutsky as saying.
He stressed that Washington continues its policy of interfering and imposing "the right of force "instead of" the power of law " by changing regimes that it does not like.
"Of course, Moscow, which "prevented" another coup and is fighting terrorists in the region, plays a "destructive role". Dead-end logic with claims of hegemonism," he added.
"Destructive", according to the representative of the State Department, Russia's role in the Middle East is that it prevents the United States from stealing other people's energy resources, said Alexey Kondratev, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs.
"We prevent the Americans from stealing Syrian oil. Put the cow to mind the corn," the Russian politician said.
"Did British Petroleum (BP - ed.) get the development of oil fields in Iraq? Of course, in this situation, the presence of Russians is undesirable," Kondratev added.
Since 2015, at the request of the official Syrian authorities, Russia has been providing military and other assistance to the Arab Republic in the fight against terrorism and the reconstruction of the country. The United States is in the country without permission from official authorities.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti