Interfax: Moscow can neither confirm nor deny US special forces “on ground” in Syria

(Interfax – September 18, 2015)

The Russian Foreign Ministry has not been able to either confirm or deny information that US special forces are present in Syria but it condemns coalition actions that have not been agreed with Damascus.

“I cannot either confirm or deny this information but I can indeed say that all actions by the so-called coalition have not been agreed with Damascus which is in violation of international law,” Mariya Zakharova, official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told a briefing in Moscow on 17 September.

She was replying to a request from a journalist to comment on a statement made by Commander of United States Central Command Lloyd Austin to the effect that US special forces are involved “on the ground” on Syrian territory on the side of one of the opposition groups.

“Even when reports appear about people ‘on the ground’, this is all part of the same theme,” Zakharova said.

According to her, participants in the coalition should coordinate their actions with Damascus.

“One needs not just to enlist support but to ask Damascus for permission to carry out some actions, moreover military operations, on Syrian territory,” she said.

At the same time Zakharova lamented that, while the US authorities admit that their special forces are present ‘on the ground’ in Syria, concern has been raised regarding Russia’s humanitarian supplies to the country which, allegedly, are not in line with some common principles agreed by western countries.