Russia: 'US should leave Syria and deal with its internal crisis'

The Russian Foreign Ministry has strongly responded to US remarks about the Middle East, describing them as “crazy”, news agencies reported on Friday.

US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker announced on Thursday that Russia should “go out” of Syria as it has played a “destructive” role there.

A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry reported by Rai Al-Youm news website stating: “It seems that he [Schenker] does not know what he was speaking about. His remarks went beyond good and evil. They are stupid remarks.”

The source also disclosed:

The professional level in the US Department of State became very low. The US should leave Syria and deal with its internal crisis.

Read: Syria vows to fight against ‘occupiers’ US, Turkey, Israel

Schenker described on Thursday Russia’s presence in Syria and the Middle East was a “rough blunder” of the Obama administration. “For 45 years, this has been the cornerstone of American politics – to keep Russia away from the Middle East,” he claimed, stating that Russia was playing a destructive role in the region and should vacate.

Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Washington responded: “In response to Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker’s blatant call for Russia to ‘go out of the Middle East’ we would like to remind: Russian military is stationed in Syria at the invitation of its government.”

According to Russian TASS news agency, the embassy added: “The real question here: what are the grounds for the USA to occupy several swaths of this sovereign country? As far as we know none of them are legal. Neither the legitimate authorities nor the UN Security Council sanctioned American troops deployment.”

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