Moscow, SANA – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described a report by the US State Department on alleged crimes against civilians by the Syrian government as baseless.

“The mentioned report contains a well-known, far from original, set of stereotypical allegations. Unfortunately, all of them are unproven again, All the assertions are not backed by any facts on the alleged numerous violations by Damascus of the norms of international law, including the norms of conducting international conflicts and human rights,” Zakharova said at a weekly news briefing.

She hoped that the US would adopt a constructive approach in this regard and concentrate on combating terrorism instead of focusing on changing the authority in Syria and exploit mass media to achieve that goal.

The Russian diplomat noted that these allegations will further escalate the situation in Syria and harm the settlement process in the country.

Zakharova described the situation in the de-escalation areas as stable, pointing out that the arbitrary shooting accidents took place in the areas held by the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations.

She added that the Syrian Arab army continues its military operations against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra members and other terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Daraa and Damascus Countryside.

In another context, Zakharova said that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet his Chinese counterpart during the latter’s visit to Moscow on May 25-26, adding that the talks will focus on current regional issues as well as efforts exerted to reach out a solution to the crisis in Syria.

R.Raslan/Mazen