On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova referred to Hammond's remarks on Moscow's air campaign against Lions of Islam in Syria as a "dangerous stove piping of disinformation."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also described as " completely groundless" the "statements from London and other Western capitals" claiming that Russia's "Air Force operations in Syria are not contributing to the resolution of the conflict."
Lavrov made the remarks in response to Hammond's comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...is undermining international peace efforts in Syria by attacking moderate opposition forces and supporting Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
.
The Russian foreign minister, who made the comments following a meeting with Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, added that such claims "reflect the anxiety of our Western partners that our Air Force is operating effectively in Syrian airspace," and that his country is used to the West's "unsubstantiated claims".
Kremlin front man Dmitry Peskov also noted that such "illogical and incorrect" claims "cannot be taken seriously".