Russian Foreign Minister: US is 'an uninvited guest' in Syria
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said that the United States is an uninvited guest in Syria, RIA Novosti reported.
"We confirmed our position that, despite the recognition of the presence of the American coalition in Syria, it is still an uninvited guest," Lavrov told reporters after the meeting.
"We see that this is a reality, and we see that this can be used to combat terrorism along with the actions that the Syrian army is carrying out with our support. This is pragmatic, as all the participants in this process are concentrating on fighting ISIS," he added.
The heads of the foreign affairs ministries of Russia and the United States discussed the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, the situation in Syria, as well as bilateral relations, in particular, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
A meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, their seventh since the beginning of the year.
Following the talks, which continued for more than an hour, the Russian Foreign Minister said that the conversation with the US Secretary of State was held in a businesslike manner, without an attempt to politicize bilateral relations.
Earlier, Russia's new ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said that the confrontation between Moscow and Washington is futile and there will be no winners in this conflict.