Israel should stop striking targets in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
“Once again we are insistently calling upon the Israeli side to refrain from such use of force,” Zakharova said, according to TASS.
Zakharova expressed “deep concern” about continued Israeli strikes in Syria, saying they “are a crude violation of Syria’s sovereignty and may trigger a sharp escalation of tensions.”
In addition, Zakharova warned that “such actions pose serious risks to international passenger flights.”Russia “systematically and resolutely opposes attempts to turn Syria into a scene of armed confrontation between third countries,” she stated.
Israel regularly strikes Iranian targets in Syria, giving advance warning to Russia, which has troops there. However, Russia has long maintained that this should not be seen as approval of the practice.
“We will continue to prevent the Iranian entrenchment that is eating Syria up from the inside,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said last week. “This is a supreme interest for the Syrian people and the regime: to stabilize, to remove Iranian forces from their territory and allow the country to be rehabilitated.”