SERGEY LAVROV:
"Our country has been a very big backer, not only of Syria, but also of Iraq, Libya, and Lebanon.
It is not our fault that not all resolutions on Middle Eastern issues were adopted. For example, Iraq was bombed out of the statehood without any discussion in the UN Security Council.
It is not our fault that the biggest trend of the modern world—the fight against those who want to keep hegemony, and on the other hand, those who would like to live in a free world where the United Nations demands to respect sovereign equality of states—is really implemented, be it BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Gulf Cooperation Council, ASEAN, and many others.
So the fight between these two worlds—one phasing out and the other emerging—is not going without clashes.
The conflicts, which were aggressive adventures launched by the U.S. and its allies in Iraq, Libya, and Palestine—because the behavior of the United States on what is going on in Palestine is absolutely unacceptable—and the invasion of Syria, are all part of the repetition of an old, very old habit: creating havoc, causing chaos, and then 'fishing in muddy waters.'
And the Middle East and Europe are no longer enough for them.
NATO, under the United States' command, pronounced last year at the summit that security in the Euro-Atlantic region is indivisible from security in the Indo-Pacific region.
So they already eye the entire Eurasian continent, including the South China Sea, the Strait of Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula.
They are creating NATO-like military blocs, and NATO infrastructure is being promoted to the region.
This is a reflection of attempts not to allow hegemony to phase out.
But this is a fight against history.
So yes, we are very much sorry for the Syrian people who became the subject of yet another geopolitical experiment.
We are absolutely convinced of the inadmissibility of using terrorists like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to achieve geopolitical purposes, as is being done now with the organization of this offensive from the Idlib de-escalation area.
But, you know, what we do in the world… maybe the mentality is different.
I know the Americans very well. For them, what is important is how they are perceived.
And they always want to be perceived as number one.
When they say something, everybody must say, 'Yes, sir,' whatever Uncle Sam decides.
In our case, it's not about being concerned with the impression we make on people.
We do things in which we believe.
Since 2015, if we could help to keep the Syrian state intact, and if we could organize the process with our Iranian and Turkish colleagues—what is called the Astana process—and meet today, as you mentioned, this in itself has been a very helpful process.
Nothing goes smoothly in world diplomacy, but the events we are witnessing today are clearly geared to undermine everything we have been doing during those years.
We’re not sorry about the image people have of the Russian Federation—or me personally—but we are deeply concerned about the fate of the Syrian people.
We don’t want them to suffer the same fate as the Iraqis, Libyans, and other nations who were disturbed by those desiring to keep their domination."
Mike