Russian Foreign Ministry on Syria, Venezuela and Ukraine
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Syria remains infested with US-supported ISIS, al-Nusra and other terrorists - mainly in Idlib province and on Pentagon bases, training them for use as imperial foot soldiers against Damascus.
Endless war continues, approaching its 9th year, with no prospect for resolution because US hardliners reject it.
That’s the hard reality of all US wars of aggression, why I call them forever wars, serving the nation’s military, industrial, security, media complex - mocking Dwight Eisenhower’s 1960 farewell address warning.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (MZ below) called (US-supported) terrorist-infested Idlib province “(o)ne of the biggest threats to security and stability in Syria.”
Their “goal is to expand the sphere of their influence until they control the whole of Idlib. The number of ceasefire violations has not decreased, but, on the contrary, has grown considerably. Some 40 such violations in which people were killed and wounded were reported over the past four days.”
MZ failed to explain why this deplorable situation festers. It’s because Turkey’s Erdogan conned Putin into believing he’d cooperate with Russia in disarming Al-Nusra and other terrorists in the agreed on demilitarized zone.
Instead he supports them, allied with Washington’s regime change agenda, wanting Assad toppled, northern Syrian territory bordering Turkey annexed.
Why Putin still trusts him is disturbing, a self-serving tinpot despot, illegally occupying parts of northern Syria, giving ISIS, al-Nusra, and other terrorists safe haven on Turkish territory, letting them move freely back and forth cross border, pretending he supports conflict resolution while conspiring against it.
Based on UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent information, 95% of refugees held captive at the US-controlled Rukban camp want resettlement elsewhere, the vast majority seeking it in Damascus-controlled areas.
They’re unable to leave or get vitally needed humanitarian aid in amounts enough to matter because the Trump regime blocks them, holding them captive, recruiting fighters from their numbers for use as proxies against Assad.
At the same time, US-supported ISIS jihadists terrorize them into submission. It’s a deplorable unresolved situation the world community is largely ignoring.
Western media ignore it entirely, supporting US aggression, blaming Damascus for Washington’s high crimes. Around 40,000 refugees remain trapped at Rujban with no access to medical care when needed.
“There are no doctors…in the camp,” MZ explained. Because of its US-supported terrorist infestation, “the ever-present fear for one’s health and life” haunts the camp’s residents.
Since Russia opened humanitarian corridors for them to leave, only about 200 managed to escape, risking their lives trying.
MZ explained that a Russian Defense Ministry statement said the US “is preventing Syrian citizens from leaving the Rukban camp and calls on the international community to promote the implementation of the Syrian government initiative for returning Syrians to their native parts, closing down the camp and liquidating the al-Tanf security zone.”
“Buses will be provided starting on March 1 for the voluntary movement of people from Rukban. We are alarmed by the reports saying that the US side is” blocking their exit.
Commenting on the Trump regime’s coup plot in Venezuela, MZ said nations supporting it are silent in response to DLT, Pompeo, Bolton, and Abrams belligerently saying “all options are on the table” - a virtual US declaration of war on a sovereign state by whatever means these warmongers intend waging it.
Russian officials strongly spoke out against interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs “by force.”
US hardliners ignore diplomatic outreach and other efforts to resolve things peacefully - toughness the only language they understand, what’s lacking from Russia and other countries supporting the Bolivarian Republic and its democratically elected government, what’s essential to save Venezuela from US imperial dominance.
MZ: “The US sticks to a policy of taking down ‘objectionable governments’ in Latin America and elsewhere. We urge all our Latin American friends to give serious thought to this, regardless of what position they now hold towards the Nicolas Maduro government.”
The above remarks aren’t good enough. Nor were Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia’s comments during a special Security Council special session on Venezuela, supporting its democratically elected government.
Challenging Washington with tough actions, not tough talk, is the only effective strategy. Mr. nice guy actions show weakness. They’re defeatist, sure to fail.
Commenting on Donbass, Ukraine, MZ said “(t)he intensity and number of fire attacks launched by Ukraine(’s military) have increased considerably over the past seven days.”
“According to members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, 11 communities in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics came under fire. The fire attacks killed two and wounded one civilian, also damaging ten residential buildings.”
Things could escalate to all-out war again, depending on what the Trump regime has in mind, perhaps a scheme to suspend the March 31 presidential election.
US-anointed/overwhelmingly reviled Poroshenko is sure to lose without rampant electoral rigging. It’s virtually certain if things proceed as scheduled, though uncertain if good enough for him to retain power as Washington’s man in Kiev.
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