MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - The intention of the United States and its coalition partners to create a border security force in Syria makes one fear for the Syrian territorial integrity, so Moscow is expecting Washington to explain itself, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow on Monday.
"In fact, this means that a huge territory along the border with Turkey and Iraq and east of the Euphrates River will be isolated," Lavrov said.
"The announcement that this zone will be controlled by groups supervised by the United States, and that those groups will amount to 30,000 men is very serious and causes fears of a possible course towards the division of Syria," he said.
"The actions we have been witnessing demonstrate that the United States does not want to preserve Syria's territorial integrity after all," Lavrov said.
"Just like our Turkish and Iranian colleagues and many others, we, including me, are sure [this is so] and are expecting the United States to explain itself," he said.