Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the killing of Iran's Gen. Qassem Soleimani “grossly violates" international law and should be condemned.
In a phone call to Secretary of State Pompeo Mike Pompeo late Friday, Lavrov laid out the argument against the strike in Iraq that took out Iran's top military leader.
“Sergey Lavrov stressed that targeted actions by a UN member state to eliminate officials of another UN member state, and on the territory of a third sovereign country without its knowledge grossly violate the principles of international law and deserve condemnation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry readout of the call stated, Politico reported.
Further, Lavrov said “the move by the U.S. is fraught with severe consequences for the peace of stability in the region and doesn't help resolve complicated problems in the Middle East,” the foreign ministry readout stated.
“[O]n the contrary, [it] leads to a new round of escalation,” the ministry statement said. “Moscow urges Washington to give up illegal military actions to achieve its goals on the international arena and to settle all problems at the negotiating table."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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