MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday condemned Israeli missile attacks against Syria, in comments that underline a chill in once-warm Russian-Israel relations.
Lavrov was speaking at a joint news conference alongside his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad. Russia is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government.
“We strongly condemned the dangerous practice of Israeli strikes on Syrian territory,” Lavrov said.
“We demand that Israel respect the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and, above all, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.”
Israel hit Iranian targets in a series of strikes on Aug. 14 near Assad’s ancestral home region and also close to Russia’s main Syrian bases on the Mediterranean coast, regional intelligence and Syrian military sources said.
Speaking at the same news conference in Moscow, Mekdad gave Lavrov his backing to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” its smaller southern neighbour.
Israel has spoken out against Moscow sending troops into Ukraine and bilateral tensions have grown in recent months.
In May, Lavrov said Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had Jewish roots – a statement which triggered outrage in Israel and forced a rare apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian authorities have also opened legal investigations into the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency, Sochnut, which promotes emigration to Israel.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones)
