Russian Defense Ministry denies British accusations on waging civil war in Syria

The Russian Defense Ministry refuted Monday Britain's recent accusation that it was responsible for the continued civil war in Syria.

On Sunday, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC that Russia should be "held accountable" for its actions in Syria's Aleppo, where an airstrike on a United Nations humanitarian convoy left dozens dead.

Fallon claimed that Russia was "determined to prolong the civil war in Syria, conniving with the regime's bombing of civilians and may indeed have been bombing civilians itself."

"The British minister, before voicing unconvincing arguments about the alleged Russian responsibility for the situation in Syria and in particular, in Aleppo, should think about what Britain has done in that poor country," the ministry's spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

The spokesman listed a host of progress as a result of Russia's actions in Syria, including over 1,000 liberated settlements, huge areas freed from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, and thousands of tons of humanitarian aid delivered to the needy.

He asked Britain to provide comparable figures of its contribution to the peaceful settlement in Syria.

"Britain could also be held responsible for the advance of the IS in Syria, which could result in the transformation of this country into a 'terrorist caliphate'," he said. Endi