October 3, 2016 - 15:04 AMT
Russia, U.S. face stage of “sharp conceptual disagreement” over Syria

Russia and the United States have vast conceptual differences on the approach to resolving the Syrian conflict, Sputnik cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.

"We are now at the stage of a very sharp conceptual disagreement with those who, like the U.S. representative to the United Nations, are trying to moralize without having the slightest justification for that," Ryabkov said in an interview when asked about the recent spate of disagreements between the two countries on Syria.

In the UN Security Council, the United States regularly aggravates the tragedy in Syria by pursuing its own goals, he said, noting that the hard diplomatic situation is also driven by the world's rejection of U.S. goals.

"This is a big trauma and a fundamental problem for the American establishment as a whole. They cannot overcome themselves, and also, fortunately, they are not able to subvert the whole world. This is where such a difficult emotional background, which we have to deal with, comes from," the deputy minister said.

The comment comes just days after U.S. officials spoke about a possible suspension of cooperation with Russia on settling the Syrian conflict. The U.S. accused Russia of failing to prevent a renewed Syrian army offensive in Aleppo, while Russia reiterated that the U.S. failed to adhere to last month's deal on separating terrorists from moderate opposition groups.