Russian FM says US trying to 'divide Syria into parts'

MOSCOW – Russia's foreign minister is meeting with his counterparts from Iran and Turkey and says the United States is trying to divide Syria.

Russia, Iran and Turkey are the guarantor states in the so-called "Astana process" aimed at ending the violence in Syria.

Sergey Lavrov said at the meeting Saturday that the recent U.S.-led missile strikes on Syria "seriously aggravated the situation" and that statements about supporting the territorial integrity of Syria "are only words that, apparently, cover plans for reformatting the Middle East and plans for dividing Syria into parts."

The meeting included Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavosoglu.