PNN – The Russian Foreign Minister explained to reporters in Doha about the range of the Oreshnik missile to the whole of Europe, Moscow’s efforts to resume negotiations between Damascus and the opposition, the need to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus, and the efforts of Russia, Iran and Türkiye to immediately stop the conflicts in Syria.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, quoting from “Tas” news agency, at a press conference in Doha, Qatar last night, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacted to media reports that Moscow had apparently withdrawn its ships from its naval base in the Syrian city of Tartus, stressing that currently, military maneuvers are taking place on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Rejecting this claim, he reminded: Military exercises are underway in the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps your satellite images mistook this for something else.
The West is calculating the range of Oreshnik missile system
Sergey Lavrov also announced that Western experts are investigating which military bases of NATO countries will be within the radius of influence if the Oreshnik missile system is deployed on the territory of Belarus.
One of the reporters pointed out that according to experts’ assessment, if this system is deployed in Belarus, the whole of Europe and NATO military bases in the Middle East will be within its radius of influence. In response to these words, the Russian Foreign Minister said: “Were these estimates made by our experts or Westerners?” Our experts. Well, I’m sure the Westerners are doing the same calculations.”
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Erdogan: The goal of the opposition in Syria is the city of Damascus
Lavrov called for an immediate end to the conflict in Syria
The head of the Russian diplomatic service also announced to the journalists that Russia, Iran and Turkey, as guarantor countries in the Astana format to resolve the Syrian crisis, emphasized the need to immediately stop the conflicts in Syria and implement UN Security Council Resolution No. 2254.
He reminded that the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Syria, Ger Pedersen, was also present at the meeting of the member states of “Astana Format”. He generally confirmed the existing concerns and “believes that measures are necessary for influential foreign actors to influence the situation on the ground, stop the current conflicts and resume negotiations between the Syrian parties – between the government and the opposition.”
Emphasizing Moscow’s efforts to resume talks between Damascus and the opposition
Sergey Lavrov emphasized that the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Türkiye agreed to help stop the conflicts in this country and to try to resume negotiations between Damascus and the opposition. He said: Such an invitation [for negotiations] has been raised by us and we will cooperate with the government and the opposition. The opposition group based in Moscow regularly cooperates with us. We are also in contact with dissidents based in other capitals such as Riyadh and Istanbul. Regarding the agreement between Iran, Turkey and Russia to help stop the conflicts, we will take measures both in the operational fields and in relation to the opposition to resume negotiations.
Warning about the consequences of the refugee crisis in the European continent
In response to journalists’ questions about the possibility of a new migration crisis in Europe following the recent developments in Syria, the Russian Foreign Minister refused to predict such a situation.
He added: I cannot predict. This is unpredictable. The problem is with those who started wars in Libya and Iraq and tried to turn Syria into a regime change country in 2011, and now this country has fallen into the situation you see. They do not think about the consequences of their actions. As you know, asylum seekers do not flee to the other side of the ocean. Therefore, the Europeans should think about this problem and use their influence to explain to the Americans that such games will end very badly.
Lavrov: It is necessary to normalize relations between Syria and Türkiye
Sergey Lavrov also emphasized the importance of normalizing relations between Syria and Türkiye and added that Russia will do its best to help in this regard.
He said: We discussed the normalization of relations between Türkiye and Damascus in the Astana format. There are ideas that we want to turn into reality. I have no doubt that the relations between Syria and Türkiye should be normalized and we will do our best to help this matter.
The Russian Foreign Minister also mentioned that there are ideas to ensure the territorial integrity of Syria and the security of the country’s borders, which were also discussed.
Earlier in late November, Lavrov held telephone talks with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in which they discussed the current situation in Syria and emphasized the need for joint measures to stabilize the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic. The two sides also agreed to use the threshold format for this purpose.