Russia said that the US military has up to 20 bases on Syrian territories controlled by Kurdish forces.
Alexander Venediktov, an official from Russia’s Security Council, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that Washington has been supplying its Kurdish allies with advanced weapons.
“The return of peace and stability to Syria is hampered by continued external interference in the Syrian crisis,” he said, according to the RIA news agency.
Venediktov is an aide to Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. His comments were the latest salvo in the ongoing war of words between the two international powers.
Speaking on Thursday, he also accused Washington of provoking Turkey into launching a major military offensive in northern Syria earlier this year by backing Kurdish separatist rebels that Ankara regards as terrorists.
His remarks came after Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the commander of US Central Command, issued a withering critique of Russian involvement in the seven-year-war.
Addressing the House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tuesday, Votel said: “On the diplomatic front, Moscow is playing the role of arsonist and firefighter” by fueling the war between the Syrian regime, Turkey and Kurdish rebels “then claiming to serve as an arbiter to resolve the dispute.”
Votel, who oversees all US troops in the Middle East, also warned that Russia is “trying to cultivate multi-dimensional ties to Iran” as they both share “an overarching desire to sideline, if not expel, the US from the region.”
Source: Agencies
