Russia's Lavrov says US Syria policy aids 'terrorism'

BAGHDAD - Agence France Presse

US policy "encourages extremists who are financing terrorism and supplying terrorist organisations and groups with weapons," Lavrov said. AP Photo

America's Syria policy encourages the financing and supply of "terrorist organisations," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday during a visit to Iraq.
      
US policy "encourages extremists who are financing terrorism and supplying terrorist organisations and groups with weapons," Lavrov said in remarks translated from Russian into Arabic.
      
"In the end, this will not result in anything except the escalation of the Syrian conflict," he said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minster Hoshyar Zebari.
      
Moscow is one of the main backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, which is locked in a bloody conflict with rebels seeking his overthrow in which more than 140,000 people have died since 2011.
      
The conflict has contributed to a year-long surge in violence in Iraq to levels not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of sectarian killings.
      
Lavrov's visit to Baghdad comes after peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition co-sponsored by Russia and the United States broke off last week, with no date set for a third round.
      
Washington has accused Moscow of not doing enough to make sure the Assad regime is fully committed to the talks, a charge Russia has rejected.