Syria has not asked U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition to protect it, has sent such request to Russia - Lavrov

Oct 01 2015

Interfax

Syria has not forwarded a protection request in line with the UN Charter's article to a U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

Syria has not forwarded a protection request in line with the UN Charter's article to a U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) group, but Russia has received such a request from Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

Moscow is concerned by such a situation regarding the coalition's activities, he said.

According to Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in public earlier that "the [U.S.-led] coalition is operating in strict compliance with the UN Charter, including its Article 51, which envisages the right to collective self-defense."

This article "applies exclusively to situations in which a specific state asks to be protected," the Russian minister said.

"The Syrian government has not sent such a request to the coalition, but Russia has received such a request," Lavrov said.

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