ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Moscow hopes that the United States and its partners will avoid repeating old mistakes and not seek a military solution to the Syrian crisis, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday.
"We would like to hope that the mistakes that have been made in the past, including by the United States and all the illegal coalitions both in Iraq and elsewhere, with forceful overthrows, with a complete lack of professionalism in conflict resolution approaches — that they will not be forgotten," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to president Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups.