The US must stop stealing oil from the Syrian people, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned after meeting with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts in Tehran.
The three guarantors of the Astana Process also agreed that the US should leave illegally held land in the trans-Euphrates region, and cease making the humanitarian crisis in Syria worse with unilateral sanctions.
“[The US has to] stop robbing the Syrian state, the Syrian people, exporting oil illegally,” Putin told reporters on Tuesday evening. He said this is the “common position” of Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
Several hundred US troops are illegally present in Syria, mainly controlling the oil wells and wheat fields in the country’s northeast, controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia since the defeat of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). The US-backed SDF has refused to reintegrate with the government in Damascus, which Washington wishes to see overthrown.
Since 2019, the US has sought to punish anyone trying to assist the reconstruction of war-torn Syria via the ‘Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act’, accusing the government of President Bashar Assad of war crimes and blocking all assistance to Damascus.
During Tuesday’s summit in Tehran, Putin met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a joint declaration, the three presidents confirmed their conviction that “there can be no military solution to the Syrian conflict,” only a political solution under the leadership of the UN. They also condemned the “unilateral sanctions violating international law,” which are exacerbating the humanitarian situation in Syria, urging the UN and other international organizations to “increase assistance to all Syrians, without discrimination, politicization and preconditions.”
Euphrates eastern bank should be back under Syrian government’s control — Putin
“The Russian side reiterated its principled position that the Euphrates eastern bank should be controlled by the Syrian legitimate government,” he stressed TASS reports
Russia, Iran, Turkey Agree That US Must Leave Euphrates Eastern Bank — Putin
“We have certain differences concerning what is happening on the Euphrates eastern bank. But we have a shared position that American troops must leave this territory,” he said. “They must stop robbing the Syrian state, Syrian people, illegal export oil from there.”
According to Putin, the three countries have different views on how to stabilize the situation in this region. “We believe that in order to reach lasting stabilization this territory should be transferred under the control of Damascus’ official authorities, the Syrian army,” he noted.
“I have said it more than once that thanks to the efforts of the Trio (Russia, Turkey, Iran), the search for compromises more than 90% of Syria’s territory is now controlled by the official authorities, the international terrorism has been uprooted after all. It is a great result of joint efforts,” he added,.
Russia sent an expeditionary force to Syria in September 2015 at the request of Damascus, to help defeat IS and other terrorist groups. In January 2017, Moscow, Ankara, and Tehran launched the Astana Process – named after the capital of Kazakhstan – to resolve the conflict in Syria, which began in 2011.