Russia Does Not Understand What Part of Golan Heights Israel Considers Its Own, Envoy to UN Says

Russia is recording contradictory statements from Israel regarding the status of the Golan Heights in the southwest of Syria and does not understand what part of this territory Israel considers its integral part, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"We hear conflicting messages coming from Israel … Israeli ambassador sent a letter saying that these are temporary decisions, given the vacuum which occurred there. And then [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu at the press conference said about the Golan Heights as an integral part of Israel. But now we don't know what part of the Golan Heights he considers to be an integral part of Israel, with them violating the buffer zone," Nebenzya told reporters.

On Sunday, Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces to "temporarily" take over a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

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The United Nations Security Council discussed the need to create a document on the situation in Syria, and its publication may take place in the coming days, Russian ambassador to the UN also noted.

"We were talking about the need to work out a document by the Council, not today. I mean, nobody was ready for that today, but I think in the coming days, very hopefully sooner rather than later, we will see one," he said.

Syrian armed opposition groups captured Damascus on Sunday. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said that he and 18 other ministers had decided to remain in the capital. Jalali also said he was in contact with the leaders of militant groups that had entered the city. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Syrian President Bashar Assad had stepped down and left Syria after negotiations with some participants in the Syrian conflict.

The status of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) as a terrorist organization is an "issue," Nebenzya added.

"That's an issue, of course, because they are listed and they are not delisted," Nebenzya said during a press conference following the UN Security Council consultations on Syria.

The United States maintains contacts with opposition forces in Syria, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, allowing for its removal from the list of terrorist groups in order to establish closer ties with it, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing a US official.

On Sunday, a source in the Kremlin told Sputnik that Assad and members of his family had arrived in Moscow, and Russia had granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds. The source also noted that Russian officials were in contact with representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, whose leaders had guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic facilities in Syria.