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U.S. Avoided Russia's 'Red Lines' in Syrian Airstrikes, Lavrov Claims

Sergei Lavrov Russian Foreign Mnistry

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that the U.S. military and its allies had avoided Russian “red lines” when conducting airstrikes against Syria last week.

The United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles last week in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack by government forces on a rebel-held area near the capital. Prior to the expected attack, Russian General Valery Gerasimov warned that Russia’s military would target all missiles that threaten the lives of its servicemen, including the locations from which they are fired.

“They were notified about where our ‘red lines’ are located, including ‘red lines’ ‘on the ground’,” Lavrov was cited as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Friday.

“The results [of the U.S. airstrikes] show that they did not cross these lines,” he added.

Lavrov also said that he was convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump would not allow an armed confrontation between their two countries, RIA reported.

Reuters contributed reporting to this article.

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