US Could Transfer Terrorists From Syria to Ukraine Amid Russian Op, Damascus Says

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - US special services could send members of Daesh*, as well as other terrorist groups in Syria, to Ukraine, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Bashar Jaafari told Sputnik.

"Based on the analysis, we can say that this is quite possibly true. We, as a state, have evidence that the US military in Syria is transferring terrorists from one place to another, especially members of the IS and Jabhat al-Nusra*," Jaafari said.

He argued that the US had transferred terrorists from Syria to Afghanistan and Burkina-Faso and that the use of mercenaries is a well-established US practice.

"So one should not be surprised, and we do not exclude, that tomorrow IS terrorists will be sent to Ukraine," Jaafari said.

He added that Western states have been supporting nationalist radicals in Ukraine.

"Many years later [after WWII] people appeared tho declared their readiness to support the neo-Nazis in Ukraine. But they received the support of these countries and the support of the special services only because they are against Russia. The West will not hesitate to arm the devil against Russia if it is in their interests," Jaafari stated.

The Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister argued that if Russia had any "real allies" in WWII, they would not be supporting neo-Nazis today.

On Sunday, EU Foreign Ministers agreed to supply 450 million euros ($500 million) worth of arms to Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after a virtual EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting late on Sunday that the aid would also include 50 million euros for non-lethal supplies, such as fuel and protective equipment, and the EU was also going to provide fighter jets to Kiev. The US, Canada and Australia have also approved lethal defensive assistance to Ukraine.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine at the end of February, following requests for help from the people’s republics in Donbass. The Russian Defence Ministry has said that the operation is only targeting the military infrastructure of Ukraine and that the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow says it has no plans to occupy Ukraine and that the purpose of its operation is to save the civilian population from genocide and liberate the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), including through the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.

*Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/IS), Jabhat al-Nusra - terrorist organisations banned in Russia and many other countries