Russia says rise in US troops in southern Syrian "illegitimate"

MOSCOW, June 20 (KUNA) -- Moscow on Tuesday lashed out the reinforcement in the US troops in southern Syria.
The is "illegitimate," the Russian news agency Novosti quoted the Russian president's envoy and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying.
He added that Washington did not obtain a permission from the UN Security Council, nor agreed with the Syrian Government. Yet, he did not rule out contact between Russia and the US to discuss the developments in Syria.
On Monday, Russia said that it had suspended cooperation with the US on the deconfliction zones as it believed US Central Command, the combatant command overseeing the Middle East, had violated the memorandum of understanding Washington and Moscow set up in 2015.
The move came after a US-led coalition shot down a Syrian Su-22 in Raqqa. (end) as.tma.msa