Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said terrorist organizations have been defeated in the majority of Syrian areas except in those where the US troops are illegally deployed.

During a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Augusto Santos Silva in Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon, on Saturday, Lavrov said the presence of the United States in Syria is illegitimate because the Syrian legitimate government had not requested it, adding that Washington is deploying troops illegally in al-Tanf area near al-Rukban Camp.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said over 6000 militants of the so-called Maghawir al-Thawra group controlled by the US are currently in the Rukban refugee camp, along with 50,000 refugees.

Lavrov pointed out that the statements of the US State Department few days ago that ISIS was not defeated yet and putting conditions for fighting the extremist organisation prove that the US views ISIS as a justification to remain in Syria and indicate that Washington is using it to carry out its plans in the country.