A US intelligence official said Russia’s moves in Syria reflect growing alarm about Assad’s ability to weather opposition gains and suggests that Moscow may be willing to intervene directly on his behalf.
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Traveling in London on Friday, Kerry said the destruction of ISIS remains the top USA priority in Syria, but that the Obama administration was also committed to finding “a political settlement with respect to Syria, which we believe can not be achieved in the long term presence of Assad“.
It was Carter’s first discussion with his Russian counterpart since he became defense secretary seven months ago.
The USA claims Russian Federation is staging a military build-up in the country from the Latakia air base, and has warned that helping to prop up President Bashar al-Assad’s regime would prolong the conflict.
“If there is a request [from Syria], then in the framework of a bilateral dialogue it would be, naturally, discussed and considered”, Dmitry Peskov told journalists on a conference call. The movements put USA officials on edge.
[READ: Is the U.S. Winning Against the Islamic State Group?]. The U.S. has also failed to get rid of Assad, the massive refugee crisis has triggered a major political crisis in Europe, and now the Europeans are looking at Assad in a dramatically different light than before.
In conclusion I would say that what we see taking place it “typical Putin“: while western leaders typically prefer high visibility actions which bring immediate (but short term) results, Putin prefers to let his opponent inflict the maximal amount of damage upon himself before intervening in gradual, slow steps. Moscow is therefore neither hostage to the figure of Assad, nor is it committed to the boundaries of the Syrian state as it now stands.
Russian military support was so far limited to arms supplies and training on new weapons from Russia, Moualem said, adding that his country’s ties with Moscow were strategic.
One US official told Reuters on Thursday that the United States believed as many as 500 Russian troops were now at the airfield, an increase from a previous estimate of about 200.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s menacing motives in the Middle…
Kerry said the forthcoming talks will help “define some of the different options that are available to us as we consider next steps in Syria“.
The United States and its regional allies have been frustrated by the durability of Islamic State in resisting their air campaign.
He, however, said the Syrian army and volunteer forces are still capable of fighting militants without foreign assistance.
But Moscow has also sought to portray Assad’s army as a bulwark against Islamist rebels, including IS, which has seized a vast swathe of eastern Syria and northern Iraq and declared a so-called “caliphate”.
“My message to the Australian Government is that there should be a real intention to fighting terrorism“, she said.
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He said it was important to forge a political agreement in Syria and end the hardship of Syrian people.
