Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United States of trying to divide Syria during a meeting in Moscow with his counterparts from Iran and Turkey.
Lavrov also said on April 28 that recent U.S.-led missiles strikes on Syria “seriously aggravated the situation.”
He reiterated Russia's position that the alleged chemical-weapons attack by Syrian forces on the town of Douma earlier this month was an “artificial pretext” for the missile strikes by the United States, Britain, and France.
Lavrov met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Russia, Iran and Turkey are the guarantor states in the so-called "Astana process" aimed at ending the violence in Syria.
The three agreed to intensify efforts to provide humanitarian aid in Syria.
International aid groups have repeatedly accused the Syrian government, which is closely allied with Russia and Iran, of preventing the delivery of aid to besieged, rebel-held areas.
Cavusoglu also criticized the United States for supporting Syria's main Kurdish militia, which Ankara views as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency raging in its southeast.
"Today, the U.S. supports terrorist organizations, and this has to stop," Cavusoglu said.
