Zasypkin Rules Out 'War between Israel, Resistance Axis'
Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Monday ruled out an imminent war between Israel and the Iran-led axis in the region, following talks with caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.
“We always call for pacifying things and I do not see a possibility for such a war, but we must influence the situation so that it remains calm instead of escalating,” Zasypkin said in response to a reporter's question about Israel's raids in Syria and the cross-border tunnels on the Lebanese-Israeli frontier.
Separately, the ambassador said he put Bassil in the picture of “some Russian steps in Syria that aim to normalize things, achieve stability, security and a political settlement, continue the eradication of terrorism, return refugees and reconstruct the country.”
Zasypkin also described as “very good” and “economically important for Lebanon” a contract signed with Russia's oil giant Rosneft to upgrade and operate storage installations in the northern city of Tripoli.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday warned Israel against continuing strikes in Syria targeting mainly Iranian positions, saying it could fuel war in the region.
Israel's army has since 2013 claimed hundreds of attacks on what it says are Iranian military targets and arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hizbullah, with the goal of stopping its main enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria.
"At any moment the Syrian leadership and the axis of resistance can take a decision to deal with the Israeli aggression in a different manner," Nasrallah said, referring to the alliance between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Iran and its ally Hizbullah.
Source: Naharnet
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