On May 18, the US-led coalition struck pro-Assad fighters near the town of al-Tanf in the vicinity of an established safe zone protected by Russia. Russian Senator Igor Morozov commented to Sputnik on the attack, saying that it might be a signal to Damascus that the US is interested in Syrian oil deposits.

On Thursday, US-led coalition forces' launched an airstrike on Syrian pro-government forces near the town of Al-Tanf in southern Syria.

It severely violated Syria’s sovereignty and negatively affected the prospects of a political settlement in the crisis-torn country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday.

Russian Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee has commented to Sputnik on the attack.

"The strike of the US-led coalition on Syrian pro-government forces might be because the US has become worried by the approach of the allies of Bashar Assad towards Deir ez-Zor, an area rich in oil deposits which the west would like to control," Morozov told Sputnik.

He also noted that in this particular area, there are districts which are under the control of Syrian Kurds and US-backed opposition forces.

The parliamentarian, however, wondered why pro-government forces which are advancing on their own territory should be caught in an attack. He also reminded that these territories were previously occupied by Daesh terrorists, who have been pumping oil and selling it through Turkey.

"The US seems to be pursuing the same policies they did in Iraq. Then it is a violation of not only international law but the world order as a whole. The US continues suppressing peace by pursuing its individual national interests," Morozov told Sputnik.

If these suggestions are confirmed, he said, Syria will need to make certain changes to its military strategy: either to respond to the US and the coalition with its anti-missile defense systems or transfer parts of its territory to US control and deal with the puppet management of future opposition groups, the senator concluded.