Russian envoy says ‘not up to’ his country to challenge Israeli strikes in Syria

The Russian ambassador says his country wants to see the implementation of “all of the provisions” of the 1974 separation of forces agreement along the Israel-Syria border.

“We agreed that on the other side of the border, there will only be regular units of the Syrian army,” Viktorov tells Channel 10. “The priority is to secure the State of Israel… These are not empty words for Russian foreign policy.”

Asked how Russia and Israel planned to ensure that the agreement was upheld, he says, “No non-Syrian troops should be in the southern deescalation area. Specific details are still under discussion… it would not be fruitful to reveal.”

When Channel 10’s Barak Ravid asks him whether Russia is “okay” with Israel’s reported airstrikes in Syrian territory against Iranian-affiliated targets, Viktorov says, “We are not okay with any forced action. We cannot agree with all actions that are taken by the Israeli government. How can we be satisfied?”

But, asked whether Russia will seek to prevent Israel from carrying out such strikes in the future, he smirks.

“We cannot dictate [to] Israel how to proceed. It is not up to Russia to give Israel freedom to do anything or to prohibit Israel from doing anything.”