Lavrov: Israeli Interests to Be Taken Into Account in Syria De-Escalation Zone

Russia and the United States will do everything in their power to ensure that Israel's interests are reflected when the Moscow-Washington de-escalation zone in southwestern Syria is established, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday.

MINSK (Belarus) (Sputnik) — On Sunday, the Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his opposition to the Russian-US deal on the ceasefire as the agreement secures Iran's presence in war-torn Syria.

"I can guarantee that we have done everything and the US side has done everything to ensure that Israel's security interests within this framework are fully taken into account," Lavrov told reporters.

He said that preparatory work ahead of the July 7 agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump to implement a regional ceasefire "has been conducted with all interested parties, including with Israel."

Russia, Iran and Turkey are guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire regime. The countries signed a memorandum on the establishment of four safe zones in Syria, which came into force on May 6. The four zones span the northwestern Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, the north of the central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as southern Daraa and Quneitra regions.