MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich has said he is hopeful that statements made by U.S. Ambassador to Damascus Robert Ford regarding the situation in Syria and the Geneva Communique do not reflect the U.S. State Department's official view on the situation in the country.
"We do not know whether it was accidental that this political pamphlet was published on the day when the new U.S. secretary of state was confirmed. I would like to hope that it was simply a coincidence, not a program statement on Syria by the U.S. Department of State," Lukashevich said, commenting on Ambassador Ford's interview with the Al-Hayat newspaper.
The Russian Foreign Ministry treats this interview as further evidence that some of our partners "are still trying to influence public opinion in Arab countries and, primarily, Syrian opposition activists and their sponsors," the diplomat said.