Russia 'concerned' by US arms going to Euphrates region

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

Russia is concerned about the continued supply of arms and military equipment to the Euphrates region, the Russian military said on Monday.

The arms are being delivered in return for help in oil trafficking from Syria, Russian General Staff spokesman Sergey Rudskoy told a news conference in Moscow.

"The continued supply of arms and military equipment to the region by the United States is also of great concern. In exchange for assistance in oil smuggling, the United States is pumping up with weapons both Kurdish and Arab groups, which then use them against each other. All this only aggravates the situation in the war-torn region," he said.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including old men, women, and children.

The YPG, based east of the Euphrates, is the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist organization and the U.S. has been arming the terror group with tonnes of weapons, military equipment and ammunition.

Idlib

Turning to the Idlib de-escalation zone, Rudskoy said the Russian military works there in close cooperation with their Turkish colleagues to normalize the situation.

"The Russian side provides the functioning of the Turkish observation posts within the de-escalation zone, patrolling and conducting convoys.

"In cooperation with our Turkish colleagues, we’re taking measures to identify and target the gun positions of terrorists, their equipment, weapons, and ammunition depots. We notify the Turkish side of the strikes in a timely manner," he said, adding that the Russian Air Forces minimized the number of flights and consequently of strikes in Syria.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.