MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2021) The United States informed the Russian military several minutes ahead of an airstrike on Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
"Our [Russian] military was warned four or five minutes in advance. Of course, even if we talk about deconflicting, as it is customary in relations between Russian and American military personnel, nothing [no one] gives this kind of notification when a strike is already being delivered," Lavrov said during a briefing.
The top Russian diplomat added that the US presence in Syria is illegal and violates all norms of international law.
Late on Thursday, the US Defense Department said that the US had targeted the infrastructure used by Iranian-backed militias - including Kait'ib Hezbollah and Kait'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada - in eastern Syria. Washington added that the strike was conducted in retaliation for the February 15 rocket attack on the Erbil Air Base in Iraqi Kurdistan.
