VIENNA. Nov 2 (Interfax) - Russia's position on the way military operations must be conducted in Syria has not changed, and it still believes that they should be conducted in coordination with the UN and the Syrian leadership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Russia consistently stands for combating terrorism based on international law, which implies that in the event of military operations, be it those conducted by air forces or ground forces and their units, this must be done with the relevant government's consent and with a UN Security Council decision. Our position on this remains unchanged," Lavrov said at a joint press conference following negotiations on Syria in Vienna.
"In light of the decisions that the U.S. president has made and [U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry has just announced, this hasn't changed our position. We believe that, in any case, having a common enemy, we should find a way to legitimately interact in opposing it," he said.
One of the most important agreements reached at the meeting is that "the meeting participants will ask the UN to convene with members of the Syrian Arab Republic's government and the opposition to start a political process."