Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu suggested Friday, July 5 there is no civil war in Syria, but rather an ongoing battle against “roving” international forces, according to RIA Novosti.

“It is more of a fight against forces that, one way or another, are roving between different kinds of conflicts within various states,” Shoigu said at the start of negotiations in Moscow with a Swedish military delegation led by Defense Minister Karin Enstrom.

At least 93,000 people have been killed in Syria since fighting broke out in March 2011 between government forces and rebels, according to the latest UN figures.