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Russia to deal with provocative acts against Syrian forces - Lavrov

MOSCOW, June 28 (KUNA) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday warned that Moscow would seriously deal with any provocative acts against the Syrian troops.
Speaking at a joint news conference with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, Lavrov urged Washington to work to ensure the non-proliferation of chemical weapons.
He expressed his hope that Washington would not resort to use "alleged intelligence information," with the aim of striking the Syrian forces.
He noted that he discussed this topic with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, revealing that President Vladimir Putin would meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G-20 summit slated for July 7.
Regarding the crisis between Russia and the NATO, he stressed the importance of conducting negotiations between military men of the two sides for maintaining the balance of power.
Lavrov said the NATO doubled its military potentials and presence several times in some European areas, in addition to continued military maneuvers near the Russian border.
On Ukraine, he underlined the need to implement the Minsk agreements signed by concerned parties in 2015 and approved by the UN Security Council, denying that there are new ideas on settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
He pointed out that Russia would urged Germany and France to persuade Ukraine to implement these agreements.
For his part, Gabriel voiced his support to Russia's request to open investigation into the chemical attack that targeted Syria's Khan Sheikhoun town last April.
He also expressed his backing to the current negotiations on Syria hosted by in Kazakhstan's Astana, describing the Russian side during the talks as "positive." He noted that the negotiations have contributed to curbing military operations in Syria. (end) as.hm