The US decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights is another step towards the destruction of the international legal framework for resolving the situation in the Middle East, said the spokeswoman for the Russian MFA, Maria Zakharova.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump signed a declaration recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Unfortunately, it may escalate tensions in the Middle East. Such things… can only exacerbate the situation,” TASS reported quoting Zakharova. 

According to this resolution, Israel’s decision to establish its laws, jurisdiction, control over the indicated part of the territory of Syria does not really have legal force, she noted.

During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the Golan Heights, and in 1981 unilaterally annexed them.