| Sergei Lavrov, Russian Federation Foreign Minister |
by tvzvezda, November 15, 2015
Translated from Russian by Tom Winter
The US brought a “dangerous and two-thought game” to Syria, trying at one and the same time to fight the tabu “Islamic state” and yet to use it against President Bashar Assad. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid out this view in an on television channel “Russia 1.”
According to Minister of Foreign Affairs, the United States acted in Syria selectively and did not touch those terrorist units, which could cause damage to the government troops.
“The blows delivered to the terrorists, with analysis of these strikes for more than a year, lead to the conclusion that the hits were done selectively, I would say, more gently, and in most cases did not touch those ISIL units, which could seriously oppose the Syrian army. This is a rather dangerous and certainly double game, one not giving a representation of what the US wants,” said Lavrov.
Washington’s motives, the Foreign Minister described as “both desire, and dread.”
“Apparently, it is from the series ‘desire, yet dread:’ desire: that the Islamic State undermine Assad as quickly as possible; but yet at the same time that the Islamic State does not get so strong as to end up seizing power,” said the Minister.
According to Lavrov, the US position is not conducive to the preservation of Syria as a secular state.
“The half-heartedness, indecisiveness, and ‘sitting-on-two-chairs,’ of course, have seriously weakened the prospects of Syria’s remaining a secular state, a state that can ensure and guarantee the rights of all ethnic and religious groups. And a country that can preserve the civilized culture that it created and which was created in Syria, for Muslims, Christians, and other religions and peoples alike,” he said.