Russia Possesses Information on Increased American Presence in Syria, Lavrentiev Claims

Astana, June 22 – Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russian president’s special envoy for Syria, said in an interview with the News Agency that Moscow has evidence that the United States is strengthening its military contingent in Syria.

“There is information that the United States is reinforcing its military contingent in northeastern Syria as well as in al-Tanf, which it illegally occupied for a long time,” he said.

According to him, this may be due to the “tightening of the American position towards Damascus itself and its attempts to make efforts to further destabilize the situation in Syria.”

He pointed out that the American intelligence services continue to work to deal with extremist and radical elements in Syria in their bases for more subversive terrorist acts directly on the Syrian territory itself.

“Perhaps this is directly related to this and an attempt to inflame the situation and plunge it back into another round of armed confrontation,” Lavrentiev added.

Earlier, the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported, citing local sources, that the United States is deploying reinforcements to military bases in Syria. According to sources in Syria, the convoy included armored vehicles, ammunition trucks and fuel vehicles. The shipment is destined for the US army in the areas of Rmeilan, Al-Shadadi and Tal Baidar.

The US army controls areas in northern and northeastern Syria in the governorates of Deir ez-Zor, Hasak and Raqqa, where the largest oil and gas fields in Syria are located. Official Damascus has repeatedly called for the presence of the US military on its lands, occupation and piracy of the state with the aim of outright theft of oil.

In addition, the US military base is located in al-Tanf in the south of the Syrian province of Homs, near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.