OREANDA-NEWS. Russia won't interact with the United States on the issue of oil fields in Syria, since this is the property of the Syrian people. This was announced on Thursday by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, commenting on media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has approved a plan according to which at least 800 U.S. troops will remain in Syria, one of their main tasks will be to control oil fields.

“We won't interact with the Americans on the issue of Syrian oil. We are talking about Syrian oil, that is, the property of the entire Syrian people,” Vershinin said. “We are convinced that it is the Syrian people who must manage their natural resources, including oil”.

The deputy head of the Russian diplomatic service also said that in the near future a meeting will be held in Astana on a Syrian settlement. Answering a question about the readiness of the Russian Federation to help the Syrian army in establishing control over Kurdish-guarded camps with captured militants, Vershinin emphasized that Moscow as a whole is helping Damascus to fully establish control over the territory of the republic.