The Russian top diplomat has once again confirmed that Russian military servicemen have been present in Syria for a long time

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Russian military servicemen have been present in Syria for a long time, their mission being to instruct local personnel in using military gear in the struggle against terrorists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"Russian military personnel has been in Syria for many years," Lavrov said. "Its presence is linked with the supplies of weapons for the Syrian army, which is bearing the brunt of the war against terrorism, in particular, the Islamic State, and other extremist groups." "They are there to help Syrians learn how to handle the hardware and to make it ready for use in the anti-terrorist struggle," Lavrov said. "Russia is airlifting military products to Syria under the effective contracts, as well as humanitarian assistance," he said. "Depending on what cargo this or that plane has on board we request proper permission in full compliance with international law," Lavrov remarked. "Russia is not taking any additional steps now. If required, we’ll be taking these steps in full compliance with our legislation, international law and our international obligations and, of course, exclusively at the request and with the consent of the Syrian government or other countries in the region, if the talk is about assistance or the struggle against terrorism," Lavrov said.

Read also Western obsession with toppling Assad hinders struggle against Islamic State

US connives at those willing to use terrorists for toppling Assad Lavrov stressed that the United States connives at those who are willing to use the Islamic State terrorist group for ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ‘In my regular contacts with the US Secretary of State [John Kerry], including my yesterday’s telephone conversation, we talked about that in detail. He expressed his concern over the rumors circulated by Western media," Lavrov said. Kerry also outlined a very strange thought that the support for [Syrian President Bashar] Assad in the anti-terror struggle was only strengthening the positions of the IS [Islamic State terrorist group] because in response the IS’ sponsors would beef up this terrorist structure with a large number of arms and money," the Russian foreign minister said.