BUR-SULTAN. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The U.S. military contingent should leave the territory of Syria, Russian presidential envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said.
This is the only way to resolve the contradictions between Damascus and Kurds, he said.
"The issue of illegal U.S. military presence and the exploitation of the Syrian mineral resources in the interests of a specific ethnos [...] and for covering the costs of the U.S. military presence in this part of Syria is a very important issue. Of course, it's absolutely unacceptable [...] Russia's position remains the same: the U.S. military contingent and other small units of the international coalition should leave the territory of Syria," Lavrentyev said.
"This is the only way to finally resolve the contradictions between the Kurds and the central government which probably still exist," the Russian diplomat said.