Russia regards the visit of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Golan Heights as a provocation, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzha.
Pompeo arrived in Israel last week. American media wrote about his intention to visit the Golan Heights, but the US State Department refused to confirm or deny this information. Then on Thursday morning, Pompeo himself announced his intention to visit the Golan Heights. Later, the Israeli state television channel "Kan" reported that Pompeo visited the Golan Heights.
"We consistently advocate the preservation of Syrian unity, respect for its sovereignty, territorial integrity. We call for abandonment of plans to divide the country and prolong the conflict in it," Nebenzia said.
"This applies both to the East and West of the SAR, including the occupied Syrian Golan, to which we consider the visit of a senior United States official a provocation," he stressed.
According to him, Moscow is extremely concerned about the processes in progress on the Syrian territory, where the illegal military presence of the United States remains.
"In addition to the trends of separatism provoked by the external occupation, the breaking of historical ties between different ethnic and religious groups in Syria, efforts to restore the country's territorial integrity are also being blocked. Western colleagues, who are so zealous in their words for human rights (but only when it is profitable for them), diligently turn a blind eye to the situation in this part of Syria," the postpresident noted.
According to Nebenzia, there have been reports of militants being released from prison and heading to Damascus-controlled areas. In addition, the permanent representative said, there were also reports of planned trials, including of foreign nationals, "it is unclear what kind of courts".
"Cases of harassment of the Arab population have been silenced. The looting of oil fields and pollution of the environment continue, which, unfortunately, the UN is silent about," Nebenzia added.
The armed conflict in Syria has continued since 2011. At the end of 2017 it was announced that the terrorist group "Islamic State "* in Syria and Iraq was defeated. At present, the political settlement, reconstruction of Syria, as well as the return of refugees are in the foreground
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Zuma \ TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti