Russia considers the US reinforcement in southern Syria illegal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bodganov said Tuesday.

“This is absolutely illegal. There was no corresponding decision from the Security Council, no request of the legal authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic,” he told reporters.

Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the US had re-deployed HIMARS rocket artillery from Jordan to a US special operations forces base near the Syrian town of al-Tanf [18 kilometers from the Jordanian border].

The ministry said the systems could not help in fighting against ISIL in Raqqa but could be used against pro-government forces.

“We are also not ruling out [contacts with the US] on Syria as well,” he told reporters answering a corresponding question.

Source: Sputnik