Russian foreign minister slams Israel’s 'inadmissible' shelling of Syria

In an interview with Egypt’s al-Ahram newspaper on Saturday, Sergei Lavrov said Moscow’s stance on the inadmissibility of Israeli shelling of Syria’s territory has not changed.

"Our principled stance concerning shelling Syria’s territory has remained unchanged. We have always clearly expressed our attitude to that. We proceed from the need for strict respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity," Lavrov said.

"We are opposed to turning the country’s territory into a scene of armed standoff between various regional players," Lavrov said when asked to comment on remarks by some political analysts about softening Moscow’s stance on Israeli shelling of Syria.

The top Russian diplomat said, "During our contacts with all parties concerned, we highlight the importance of preventing an upsurge in tensions and the dangerous escalation of the situation in Syria, which are fraught with negative consequences for both neighboring countries and the Middle East region in general."

He went on to say that Russia in cooperation with Iran and Turkey contributed to working to set up a de-escalation zone in Syria’s south and southwest.

"Now these areas are under the control of the Syrian government. Russian military police officers help maintain law and order there," Lavrov said.

Israel began carrying out military strikes in Syria in 2013.

The Tel Aviv regime has recently increased its airstrikes in the Arab nation. Earlier in March, the Israeli regime launched the attacks on Shaykh Najjar industrial city located 10 km northeast of the city of Aleppo.

The Syrian government has on multiple occasions slammed the Israeli regime's act of aggression and also warned about the “dangerous repercussions” of Israeli assaults on its territories. Israel is widely believed to have been providing weapons to anti-Damascus militants as well as medical treatment to Takfiri elements wounded in Syria inside the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel often claims that it conducts airstrikes targeting “Iranian assets” in Syria.

Damascus and Tehran have repeatedly rejected Israeli claims that Iran has military bases in Syria. Iran has been offering military advisory support to Syria at the request of the Damascus government, enabling its army to speed up its gains on various fronts against terror outfits.

Russia has also conducted aerial bombardment of terrorist positions.

In the past, the Syrian army has confiscated Israeli-made arms and military equipment from terrorists fighting the government forces. There are also reports that Tel Aviv has been treating the extremists wounded in Syria.