Ukrainian foreign minister fears Donbas tensions may escalate if Russia, U.S. fail to make progress on Syria issue
Attempts to destabilize Ukraine are possible after the UN General Assembly session unless Russia and the United States reach an agreement on Syria, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.
"Unless the theme of the Syria situation is developed in conversations with Washington" Russia may "decide to continue destabilizing Donbas," he said.
The destabilization attempts "may target not only Donbas but also Ukraine as a whole," the Ukrainian foreign minister said in Sonya Koshkyna's Levy Bereg program aired by the 24 television channel.
In the opinion of the minister, Russia is backing "not so much al-Assad as the army and the security services it sees as a cornerstone of security and stability" and which, in his words, are under "certain influence" from the Russian administration.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has opposed Russia's military presence in Syria and Ukraine has barred Russian planes airlifting cargo to Syria from entering Ukrainian airspace.
"There are Russian servicemen in Syria and they have been there for years," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. "Their presence is linked to the supply of armaments to the Syrian army which is bearing the main burden of the deterrence of terrorism personified by ISIL and other extremist groups."
In the words of Lavrov, the Russian servicemen are stationed in Syria to "help the Syrians master the use of hardware and to prepare [the hardware] to be used against terrorists."