Russia disagrees its military aid to Damascus fans Syrian conflict - Churkin

MOSCOW, September 16 /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will use the UN General Assembly floor in New York to explain to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry why Russia disagrees with Washington’s opinion that military aid to Damascus is fanning the Syrian conflict, Russian Ambassador to UN Vitaly Churkin said at a Moscow-New York teleconference on Wednesday. "We have exchanged replicas with our U.S. colleagues. The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group made its first appearance during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. If we stick to this logic /the U.S. blames the Syrian president for the IS emergence/, it can be said that the U.S. occupation of Iraq was the root cause of the IS appearance," Churkin said. "We should stop launching accusations against each other and should focus on creation of a coalition to fight IS to which the Russian president has been calling," the Russian diplomat stressed. Churkin disagreed with the United States that military aid to Syria could intensify the conflict. "We disagree with this logic. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will present our arguments to the U.S. secretary of state once again when he visits New York," Churkin said. Read more