Russian Foreign Ministry on Syria, Venezuela, and Nicaragua
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (MZ below) put a brave face on endless US aggression in Syria.
Saying “(l)ife is returning to normal in most of” the country, she explained that “hotbeds of tension” remain, notably in terrorist infested Idlib province and southern areas bordering Iraq, Jordan and Israel, adding:
US-supported “terrorists continued their aggressive inroads and provocations from the Idlib de-escalation zone.”
“In the last two weeks, the shelling in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama have killed several dozen Syrians, both military and civilians.”
“Special concern is caused by a report on the use of chemical agents by Jihadists in Al-Suqaylabiyah, and the villages of Al-Rasif and Al-Aziziyah in the north of Hama, where over 20 people were taken to hospital with signs of chemical poisoning.”
“For the first time since the beginning of the year, the terrorists shelled the city of Tartus with jet projectiles. In response, government troops, supported by Russian Aerospace Forces, dealt pin-point strikes to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist alliance positions.”
The US, NATO, Israel, and their imperial partners consistently breached unanimously adopted Security Council Resolution 2254 - calling for ceasefire and diplomatic settlement of the conflict, along with recognition of Syrian sovereignty over all its territory and withdrawal of foreign occupying forces.
US and Turkish occupation of Syrian territory, along with Pentagon-led terror-bombing, remain the most serious threats to Syrian liberation, along with preserving and protecting its sovereignty.
According to the State Department, the Trump regime intends redrawing US maps of Israel to include illegally annexed Golan, sovereign Syrian territory.
A more far-reaching plan calls for partitioning the country into at least northern, southern and central areas - wanting the state’s sovereignty eliminated.
Commenting on the situation in Venezuela, MZ quoted Trump saying he’s open to “all options,” along with Pence’s rejected demand for Russia to “cease all support” for Maduro.
The Trump regime’s coup plot flagrantly violates international and US constitutional law. As for Russian military personnel in Venezuela, MZ said they “arrived…in accordance with the provisions of the bilateral agreement on military technical cooperation,” adding:
The Russian side has not violated anything – not international agreements or Russian and Venezuelan law.
“Russia is not tipping the balance in the region. Russia is not threatening anybody unlike certain (Trump regime officials) whose statements I have just quoted.”
Moscow supports strict adherence to international law in Venezuela and everywhere else - polar opposite how the US operates globally.
MZ denounced “the provocative activities of the impostor (Guaido), the so-called ‘acting president’…undermining the legal foundations of Venezuela’s statehood, (along with US-led) bullying of the legally elected president” Maduro.
“Regarding Washington’s idea of who we ‘must’ support in Venezuela, Russia supports the legitimate authorities. This phrase contains two key words – legitimate and authorities.”
“It is legitimate because only Venezuela’s people have the right to elect their leaders in accordance with the national Constitution.”
Actions by foreign powers aiming to undermine legitimate Venezuelan governance are flagrantly illegal.
“(T)here are no authorities in Venezuela except President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Mr Guaido” is an imposter, a traitor to his country belonging in prison serving hard time for his criminal actions.
“By denying Nicolas Maduro the right and obligations of authority, Washington and its proxies are denying the people of Venezuela ‘here and now’ the right to live in a country which has (legitimate) authorities” - not anyone illegally appointed by a foreign power.
Days earlier, Guaido henchmen, with US support, illegally broke into Venezuela’s New York consulate office and its Washington Defense Attache office.
MZ: “These actions are a flagrant violation of the provisions of Articles 22 and 45 of the Vienna Convention, which refer to commitments to ensure diplomatic mission safety.”
“We see Washington extend the tactics it has widely used in recent years to illegally seize diplomatic property, in particular, Russian diplomatic property, to other sovereign states as well.”
MZ stressed that Russia “continue(s) to provide assistance to (Venezuela’s) legitimate government to stabilize the political situation and overcome the socioeconomic crisis in the country.” Unlike the Trump regime, Moscow fully adheres to the rule of law the US flagrantly violates.
In cahoots with its coup plot in Venezuela, the Netherlands agreed to let the Pentagon use the Caribbean island of Curacao as a base for possible military action against Venezuela, MZ saying:
“…The Hague gave the US carte blanche to use its former colony as a platform for aggressive intervention in Venezuelan affairs under the veneer of humanitarian pretenses.”
Commenting on the situation in Nicaragua, another nation targeted by Trump hardliners for regime change, MZ said Moscow is closely following events in the country, its legitimate Sandinista government endangered by US aims to topple it, adding:
Russia addresses “endless (illegal US) interference” in the internal affairs of other countries because if favors a “pragmatic approach” in diplomatic relations with other countries.
“(I)nternational law is (repeatedly) violated” by the US, targeting one sovereign independent government after another for regime change.
Are there any examples of “Washington’s good actions? There are none. If they existed, then maybe we would have something to talk about” - not in Venezuela, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, elsewhere globally nor in the US, ruled by fascist hardliners exclusively for its privileged class.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
