Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused on Tuesday the United States of planning a long-term stay in Syria, charging it with trying to maintain control over the eastern part of the country. He said that the US was used saying that the only purpose of its forces in Syria was the war against the ISIS terrorist group. After the defeat of the group however, Washington has justified its presence differently, he remarked. In addition, Lavrov said that the "Americans have taken dangerous unilateral steps." “Those steps look increasingly as part of efforts to create a quasi-state on a large part of Syrian territory — from the eastern bank of the Euphrates River all the way to the border with Iraq." He said the US moves are eroding Syrias territorial integrity by sponsoring the creation of power structures independent from Damascus, noting that Moscow has raised those concerns in contacts with the US.