Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised Washington for refusing to cooperate with Moscow in its Syrian campaign, which is having an increasingly dramatic effect.
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He said the idea also included sending a Russian delegation headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to the United States as a second step.
Two shells landed near the Russian Embassy in Damascus on Tuesday, while a small pro-Moscow demonstration was taking place, but there were no reports of casualties or damage to the embassy building.
A U.S. C-17 cargo aircraft dropped approximately 50 tons of ammunition to the Syrian rebel group during the weekend but it was yet to be clarified which groups they were and what the content of the airdrop was.
The United States and Russian Federation are conducting separate air campaigns in Syria, which they have said are targeting Islamic State.
The Russian airstrikes have allowed Syrian government forces to begin a multipronged ground assault. Troops captured the villages of Lahaya and Mansoura in the central province of Hama, the SANA news agency reported. “The shipment we received was just part of a shipment that we would have normally gotten anyway”, he said, adding that the rebels in Syria receive the missiles via truck at the Turkish border near Azaz and one crossing to the west of Idlib.
The Islamic State group called on Muslims Tuesday to wage jihad on Russian Federation and the United States, as Moscow announced it had intensified its air campaign against Islamic militants in Syria.
“We’ve aligned ourselves to these guys, we trained them and paid them and sent them off to battle, and when the going gets tough, we’re not there”.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the two sides would hold another round of talks Wednesday on how to stay out of each other’s way in the skies over Syria.
It said IS units lost most of their ammunition and heavy weapons as a result of the airstrikes – a claim that was not independently confirmed.
But al-Adnani also acknowledged the death of a senior IS official, Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, who was killed in an August airstrike by the U.S.in Iraq.
Also Tuesday, the Nusra Front released an audio message purportedly from its leader describing Russia’s intervention as a new “crusader campaign” aiming to save Assad’s rule.
The U.S.-led coalition has supported the group with airstrikes but the US has been reluctant supply it with arms because the group is considered by USA ally Turkey as an off-shot of the PKK – designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.
He promised to pay $3.42 million to anyone who kills Assad and $2.28 million to anyone who kills Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, whose men are fighting alongside Syrian troops. Obeid had replaced Hassan Hussein al-Haj, who was killed in Idlib last week.
In the statement, over 41 rebel groups, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham Movement, deemed the Russian military intervention in Syria as an “occupation”, and urged regional countries to form a coalition in order to face the Russian-led group which also includes Iran, Iraq and Syria.
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Another senior Revolutionary Guards commander, Hossein Hamedani, was killed last week while advising the Syrian army near Aleppo. The information about the direct involvement of the Iranian military in combat will become clear in the next few days.
