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Russia Hopes Trump Administration Adjusts US Middle East Course - Presidential Envoy

ASTANA (Sputnik) - Moscow hopes that under the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, Washington will adjust its foreign policy discourse in the Middle East, Russian President's Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev told Sputnik on Wednesday.
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"We hope that with the arrival of the new president and the new administration and the appearance of new people, some changes and some adjustments in the new administration's foreign policy are possible, including in the direction of the Middle East," Lavrentiev said.
Moscow understands that under Trump the US will have very close relations with Israel but believes that all issues and problems, including the Syrian one, must be addressed in a complex way.
"There is no way out. First of all, we need to stabilize the situation in the region in general, not let it develop and take on a larger dimension," the envoy said.
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Russian forces in October made a demarche to Israel after its military carried out an airstrike near Russia's Khmeimim Air Base in Syria and emphasized the unacceptability of such attacks, the envoy also said.
"Our forces, obviously, made a demarche to Israeli representatives regarding the inadmissibility in the future of such actions that could jeopardize the lives of Russian servicemen who are there. Therefore, we hope that there will be no more repetition of this October event," Lavrentiev said.
In October, Israel carried out a strike in the immediate vicinity of the Russian base, he also said, adding that Israel realizes that strikes immediately on the facility would have brought "very negative consequences, including to Israel."
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