UN Security Council condemns attack on Russia’s embassy in Damascus as terrorist act

UNITED NATIONS, May 20. /TASS/. The UN Security Council has condemned the terrorist attack on the Russian embassy in Damascus, insisting that those responsible should be brought to justice, Lithuanian UN Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite has told reporters. "The members of the Security Council strongly condemned today's terrorist attack against Russian Federation Embassy in Damascus, Syria, inflicting serious material damage," said the diplomat of Lithuania, which currently chairs the UN Security Council. All the 15 members of the Security Council "recalled the fundamental principal of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises, including under 1961 Vienna convention on diplomatic relations," she said. The members of the Security Council have called for taking "all appropriate steps" to prevent "any attack on diplomatic offices." They underlined the need to bring perpetrators of these acts to justice. Russia’s embassy in Damascus came under mortar fire on Tuesday. The embassy was shelled presumably from the Jobar district controlled by illegal armed groups, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. No one was hurt in the attack, but the building was damaged, he said. The ministry considers the shelling a terrorist attack against the diplomatic mission, he said, calling on the international community to respond to this incident. "We urge all parties enjoying influence on extremists in Syria to demand they immediately stop such actions," he said. Read more