“We have received an answer (from Washington) that there is no possibility to send a delegation to Moscow or to receive a delegation in Washington”, Lavrov said in a live webcast of a meeting at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, Xinhua reported.
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Rebels in the capital’s suburbs have targeted the embassy in the past, and it was not clear if Tuesday’s attack targeted the rally.
The Russian military intervention to prop up the Syrian government has brought new scrutiny of the CIA’s secret support for Syrian rebels fighting Bashar Assad.
On Tuesday, the Army of Conquest, a coalition that includes several powerful rebel factions as well as the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, announced its counteroffensive against government forces.
He also disparaged Saudi Arabia and its influential clerics for failing to rally behind the rebels that the monarchy supports in Syria like they did decades ago in Afghanistan. Putin hit back, criticising Washington for refusing to share intelligence with Russian Federation and accusing it of muddled thinking. The Kremlin claims the airstrikes are aimed at supporting the forces of Russia’s ally, President Bashar al-Assad, against Daesh but North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has accused Russian Federation of targeting all groups opposed to Assad. He pointed to the chaos that followed United States targeting of other Arab autocrats like Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Only three suspects have been identified so far and all are men in their 20s from Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russian Federation where an Islamic insurgency still simmers after two separatist wars.
Washington says Moscow’s campaign has mainly targeted other insurgent groups including those that have fought Islamic State, a charge Russian Federation denies. Troops captured the villages of Lahaya and Mansoura in the central province of Hama, the SANA news agency reported.
“We aim at making a contribution in the fight against terrorism, which is unsafe for the United States, for Russian Federation and for the European countries, and for the whole world without exaggeration”. The Syrian regime has purchased billions of dollars worth of Russian weapons. “It increased in the last days, and it has proven its effectiveness”. “Russia will be defeated”, IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani said in a recording posted online, calling on “Muslims everywhere to launch jihad against the Russians and the Americans”.
Control of Aleppo city and the surrounding province in the area near the Turkish border is divided among the Syrian government, insurgent groups fighting Assad and the Islamic State group that controls a few rural areas near the city.
The Sunni groups are also unlikely to be interested in protecting a multi-sectarian government, but rather more likely to be interested in exacting revenge against Assad and his cronies if the Sunnis ever have the opportunity to do so, he said.
To be sure, Russia’s air campaign in Syria, in contrast to that of the US-led coalition, has in the Syrian military a relatively capable ground force which theoretically gives it a strategic advantage. Obeid had replaced Hassan Hussein al-Haj, who was killed in Idlib last week.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency also said Gen. Farshad Hasoonizadeh, a former commander of Iranian paramilitary forces, was killed in Syria while fighting extremist terrorists, a reference to the Islamic State group.
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Either outcome in Syria could cost Russian Federation dearly.
