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Moscow Not Prone to Overestimating US Role in Defeating Daesh in Syria - Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier stated that the presence of US forces in Syria does not help the political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis in the country. His remarks came shortly after President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw all US troops from the Mideast country.
Sputnik

Russia is not prone to overestimating the role of the United States in defeating Daesh* in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

READ MORE: UN Special Envoy Says Premature to Assess US Withdrawal From Syria

According to the spokesman, the United States' chaotic and unpredictable decision-making is causing discomfort and concern in international affairs.

“Stability and predictability is what Russia is looking for in all directions of its foreign policy. Stability and predictability are what all countries welcome. And when stability gives way to unpredictability, surprise and such, I would say, chaos in certain decisions, it causes both discomfort and concern in international affairs. This applies not only to Russia, this applies to all countries", he said.

Peskov elaborated that Moscow still had no clear understanding of Washington's further steps in Syria and wanted more information about the planned withdrawal of US troops, announced by President Donald Trump earlier this week.

"The opinion is as follows, first, we need to understand how, when, where the Americans go, this is not yet clear. Second, we need to understand what the next phase is, nobody knows this either. Third, Russia, in fact, is the country that legitimately, under international law and at the request of Syria, assisted Syrians in freeing their country from international terrorism".

When asked about a potential US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the Kremlin spokesman also stated that Russia didn't want anything to happen that could undermine stability in the country.

Russia Has Many Questions For BBC — Kremlin

Speaking about the UK watchdog's conclusion that RT broke broadcasting rules, Peskov said that there have been many questions about the British media, mainly the BBC, working in a biased manner.

"Many, let's say, various agencies in Moscow have repeatedly had questions regarding specific publications, concrete cases of coverage of developments relating to Russia — [questions regarding] the coverage of what is happening in Syria and within Russia", Peskov told reporters.

He said that the Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor's inspection of the BBC could surely be regarded as a retaliatory response to the UK Office of Communications' (Ofcom) decision on RT.

READ MORE: RT Says Disappointed Over UK Regulator Finding It “Broke Broadcasting Rules”

Earlier in the day, Roskomnadzor said it had started checks to verify the BBC's compliance with Russian law after Ofcom accused the RT broadcaster of violating the regulator's rules and failing to provide unbiased news coverage in seven programmes aired in March and April. RT for its part, issued a statement, saying it was "extremely disappointed" with the results of the investigation.

On Counter-Measures to Support Russian Media Targeted by US Sanctions

The Kremlin spokesman further said that Russia will develop measures to support Russian media outlets that have been targeted by US sanctions, if deemed necessary.

"The media outlets that are under US sanctions, they continue working. Undoubtedly, if their situation under US sanctions, which we consider illegal, leads to some critical situations, we will develop measures, for every given case, to support these media platforms".

Earlier this week, the US Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on Federal News Agency, Economy Today, and Nevskiy News, as well as the USA Really website.

*Daesh, also known as ISIS/IS/Islamic State, is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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