US Position of Dodging Talks With Syria on ISIL is Double Standard - Lavrov

Washington's unwillingness to notify Damascus of plans to conduct airstrikes endangers civilians, Russia's foreign minister said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The refusal of the United States to hold dialogue with Damascus on the fight against Islamic State (ISIL) militants presupposes that airstrikes in Syria may be used not just against terrorists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

The minister said that the US-led coalition against the ISIL jihadists has not notified the Syrian authorities in advance about its plans to conduct airstrikes on Syrian territory, explaining this fact by the alleged illegitimacy of Bashar Assad's government.

"It is a contradiction and a double standard to say that Syria is a partner for the purpose of chemical weapons destruction, and it is not [a partner] in the fight against terrorism. This brings about thoughts that the airstrikes led on Syrian territory over the areas controlled by the terrorists would sometimes be led in other parts of the Syrian state, which are not controlled by terrorists," Lavrov said in the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

The Islamic State group's positions in Syria have been targeted by the US-led international coalition since September last year.

In October, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 32 civilians were killed following the first month of coalition airstrikes in Syria.

In January, US Central Command acknowledged for the first time that they are investigating claims of civilian casualties of the coalition’s airstrikes in the country.