“I want to say the result of the vote was a unanimous approval of the Russian president’s request,” Sergei Ivanov, who heads Putin’s administration, stated.
“Importantly: this is specifically about Syria. I want to underline that this is not about any kind of political objective or ambitions that we have been accused of by our western partners. It is only about international interests of Russian Federation.”
Among those interests, he said, are defending Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces against rebels.
“Already a range of states are conducting rocket bomb strikes in Syria and Iraq, including the United States. France recently joined those operations,” Ivanov said.
“But these actions violate international law. To be in accordance with international law, one condition must be observed: either a UNSC resolution, or a request for military assistance from the state on whose territory those strikes are to take place.”
Moscow’s military assistance is in response to a specific request from Assad for aid; Ivanov added that military involvement would be “temporary.”
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday that “there has been unrest for four years now,” in Syria. “Despite this, we have been able to keep this threat away from the residents of the Golan Heights and the North.
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