New US strike on Syrian govt would have serious consequences – Lavrov

Another US strike on Syrian government forces could have serious consequences, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as saying in Moscow on Tuesday. He was commenting at a news conference on statements from the US warning of possible new strikes against Syrian forces. “It is one thing to irresponsibly use a microphone in the UN Security Council and another thing when [both Russian and American] military have channels of communication, and these channels show very clearly what could be done and what cannot be done,” Lavrov said. The US coalition knows this very well, the Russian diplomat added. Lavrov also said on Tuesday that establishing more de-escalation zones in Syria was not a priority for now, and it was important to prevent violations of ceasefire agreements in Eastern Ghouta.