Russian MFA spokeswoman: US actions against Syrian government would lead to 'tectonic shifts'
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that if the US were to directly engage Syrian government forces, it would lead to “tectonic shifts” in the Middle East, RIA Novosti reported.
"My goal is to explain why it is so important to stay in line with the agreements [between the US, Russia, and Damascus]. If the US carries out direct aggression against Damascus and the Syrian army, it will lead to terrible, tectonic shifts, not only in this country [Syria], but also in the region [Middle East] in general,” Zakharova said on the TV program “The right to know!" which will air on Saturday night.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman explained that a regime change would lead to a power and political vacuum, which would be immediately filled with “moderate, but actually in no way moderate, terrorists of all stripes, and it will be impossible to do something about it.”
A joint US-Russia brokered ceasefire recently fell apart in Syria after the US-led coalition bombed Syrian government position, which Washington says was an accident. Shortly thereafter, a UN aid convoy was bombed outside the Syrian city of Aleppo, and the West has accused Russian and/or Syrian aircraft of carrying out the attack.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently stated that Moscow would be open to pursuing the original agreement with Washington.
Russian war planes attacked rebel-held areas north of Aleppo on Saturday, a day after it became known that Russia is bolstering its forces in Syria.