Moscow would take U.S. airstrikes on Syria without Damascus' consent as aggression - Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) - The U.S.' possible airstrikes on positions of terrorists from the Islamic State in Syria without Damascus' consent and without UN Security Council sanction would constitute an act of aggression against the country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
"The U.S. president has declared directly that the American armed forces could strike the Islamic State's positions on Syrian territory without the legitimate government's consent. Such a step in the absence of a UN Security Council decision would be an act of aggression and a gross violation of international law," Lukashevich said at a news conference in Moscow in reply to a question from Interfax.
"There are reasons to presume that Syrian government forces could also be exposed to the strikes in this case, with all the ensuing grave consequences in terms of the further escalation of tensions," he said.
Moscow supports the fact that the U.S., which turned a blind eye to actions of radical elements in Syria for a long time, expecting to use them to overthrow the legitimate government in Damascus, has finally realized the scope of the calamity that has engulfed virtually the entire Middle Eastern region, he said.
"In our view, what is worse is that Washington still cannot discard its own double standards in trying to substitute truly collective actions in combating international terrorism by such dubious maneuvers, which reveal quite a significant ideological and confrontational tint," Lukashevich said.
"By helping the Iraqi government oppose the Islamists, Barack Obama at the same time once again asks the U.S. Congress to allocate $500 million in support for the Syrian armed opposition, which, frankly speaking, differs little in general from the Islamic State radicals," he said.
Any actions against the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Syrian territory should be taken only with the official authorities' consent, he said.
"It is the Syrian government's legitimate condition that any actions against the Islamic State on the republic's territory be taken with the Syrian government's consent and in compliance with international law, primarily the norms that stipulate sovereignty and territorial integrity," Lukashevich said.
"Without these approaches, any attempts to deliver strikes will be taken only as a direct act of aggression," he said.
