Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accuses U.S. of creating a quasi-Kurdish state in Syria

He spoke at a news conference in Moscow and said he briefed his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar, at a meeting Tuesday about the work that Russia, Türkiye and Iran are carrying out within the framework of the Astana format to promote Syrian settlement.

Continuing economic problems in Syria due to Western sanctions and Kurdish quasi-state

“We emphasized the continuing serious problems in the economy of the Syrian Arab Republic due to total illegitimate Western sanctions, and also because the U.S., creating a Kurdish quasi-state on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, are smuggling the Syrian oil and the Syrian grain,” he said.

Lavrov discusses Palestinian-Israeli settlement and its impact on the Middle East region

Lavrov said he discussed Palestinian-Israeli settlement with Ammar and indicated that without finding a solution to the conflict, it will be difficult to achieve “long-term improvement of the situation in the entire Middle East region.”

Russia aims to strengthen ties with Tunisia

Moscow wants to strengthen ties with Tunis, including through expanding economic ties, said Lavrov, who noted that the trade turnover reached $1.2 billion.

“We have separately focused on the prospects of organizing purchases of Russian grain. The first batch has already been delivered to Tunisia,” he said.

Tunisian counterpart praises Russia as an important partner

Ammar called Russia “an important partner,” and noted that the two countries have always maintained a good level of relations.

“We cooperate in different fields, and there are no exceptions or obstacles for us to move forward,” he said.