US turned Syria into a stockpile of weapons, Russia says

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the US has turned Syria into a stockpile of weapons and Moscow had thought of the increasing human death toll in the war-ravaged country when it intervened in the conflict in 2015, according to Hurriyet report.

Responding to a question by a pro-YPG/PKK journalist about Moscow's involvement in the Syrian conflict, Zaharova said, “Do you know how many years of nightmare Syria has endured? Tens of thousands of people were rendered mentally ill due to the war."

"Have you just woken up? Where were you before? Did you not know that there was a nightmare in Syria?"

The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman further said, that maybe CNN International's correspondent Christiane Amanpour should be asked about the US role in the bloodshed in Syria, so Washington can answer why it had been stockpiling weapons in Syria for so many years.

US 'sending new weapons to Kurds' across Iraq

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zaharova also accused the US of arming "Kurdish militias" across Iraq.

She said, “Provoking Turkey, Americans keep sending the Kurds new and new convoys with weapons across the territory of Iraq."

The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman added, "Turkey, as a result, continues to conduct military operations" in Afrin district of northwestern Syria under the framework of Operation Olive Branch.

Zaharova also said, “The US continues military occupation of the 55-kilometre zone around Al Tanf, that is now, in fact, a security zone for the remnants of Daesh,” she said.

On January 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defence rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said. 

Turkish military also said only terror targets were being destroyed and the "utmost care and sensitivity" were being used to not harm civilians.