The Defense Department is continuing its review of ongoing Russian military activity inside of Syria, he added, while speaking with their military counterparts in Moscow.
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“We expect the details of those conversations, including the exact timing of those conversations, will be worked out in the coming day”, said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook at a press briefing. “These strikes will continue”, he said.
Peter Cook said it was not yet clear when these talks would start or who would participate.
Wednesday’s meeting between the two officials was the third this week on the sidelines of the General Assembly and came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama met on Monday afternoon.
A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the strikes were targeted “against positions held by the Islamic State in Syrian territory”, the Washington Post reported. But he called on Russian Federation to seek a diplomatic end to the Syrian civil war.
“We will ensure through precision airstrikes that ISIL do not have any sanctuary, anywhere, on the ground in Syria”, he told the council.
“I take the Russians at their word”, he said. It was unclear which of the rebel groups fighting Syria’s government was the target.
The Homs area attacked by Russian planes is crucial to Assad’s control of western Syria.
“Our fight is in Iraq, not in Syria”, Santorum said.
Syrian President Bashar Assad is a key ally of Moscow.
The group said the strikes hit Rastan, Talbisseh and Zaafarani in Homs, while the security source said the Russian strikes had hit Rastan and Talbisseh. Lavrov said it would be discussed over the next month. He listed countries with a key role to play in resolving the chaos in Syria, including Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the US and China.
“The fate of the Syrian people can not be limited to a horror scenario where they must choose between a criminal regime or barbaric terrorism”, he said.
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The Russian parliament unanimously approved earlier a request from Putin to carry out the military operation, Moscow’s first engagement in a distant theater of war since the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
