Lavrov: "Military actions in Northern Syria should be prevented"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that military actions in Northern Syria is inadmissible in the context of plans by Turkish authorities to launch a military campaign against Kurdish militia.

Speaking at a joint press conference following a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, Lavrov said:

"The important part is to prevent some kind of new military action and reach agreements via diplomatic channels based on those political principles that have already existed in relations between Syria and Turkey."

He added that the Syrian administration is ready to be fully responsible for its sovereign territory after regaining complete control over it, and Moscow supports this position.

Replying to a question about Moscow’s role as a mediator in the relations between Damascus and Ankara, Lavrov pointed out that Russia has been involved in normalizing the relations between the two countries for years as a participant of the Astana Platform.

"The entire process of implementing Resolution 2254 as well as the agreements reached in the Astana Platform aim to completely normalize the relations between the two neighboring countries in the context of restoring Syria's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence," he said.

The United Nations Security Council had endorsed a road map for a peace process in Syria through Resolution 2254 in 2015, which set out a timetable for UN-facilitated talks between the Syrian government and opposition, as well as the outlines of a nationwide ceasefire to begin as soon as the parties concerned have taken steps towards a political transition.

Turkish authorities have repeatedly voiced intentions and plans in the last two months to launch a fresh incursion into Northern Syria, allegedly to expand a "safe corridor" against "terrorists."

Turkey views the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), a political entity that was established during the Syrian civil war under the leadership of pro-Kurdish parties, as a "terror organization."