U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow Tuesday for meetings with top Russian officials aiming to discuss strategies for defeating the Islamic State group and the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. If a political transition is agreed to, the United States wants him gone.
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Still, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon, asked Monday by MSNBC if Clinton would apologize to Trump, insisted, “Hell no”. Mr Trump on Monday took to Twitter demanding that Ms Clinton retract her comments.
Ahead of the talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement complaining that Washington was not ready to fully cooperate in the struggle against ISIL and needed to rethink its policy of “dividing terrorists into good and bad ones”.
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The opposition rebels have chosen a new secretary-general, a new spokesperson and a 23-member supreme negotiation commission. Participants attend a conference held by the Democratic Forces of Syria in Derek, Syria on December 8, 2015.
There have been some formal efforts among the nations involved in the Vienna talks to actually settle on which rebels are “legitimate” and which are “terrorists”, but so far they have not resolved the matter.
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Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova celebrates after winning a women’s World Cup slalom in Are, Sweden, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015. This was the fourth straight win for Vonn, having taken three speed races last weekend in Lake Louise, Alberta.
On Thursday, representatives of Syrian opposition groups met in Riyadh and agreed on a broad plan that includes holding talks on a political transition with Assad’s government in early January.
Kerry praised Moscow for having been “a significant contributor to the progress that we have been able to make” on Syria and said the USA and Russian Federation both believe the Islamic State group must be eliminated.
The official said Kerry would also be inquiring about recent comments from Putin and Russian military officers suggesting that Moscow is supplying the Free Syrian Army, which is opposed to Assad, with air support and weapons.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, US President Barack Obama voiced fresh determination to destroy the ISIS, vowing to kill the group’s leaders and win back territory in the Middle East.
“Russia and Turkey certainly have to re-establish the relations of trust that we have always had, but our patience has a limit”, Mr Cavusoglu said in an interview. The United States, its allies and most opposition groups insist that Assad must leave power for the fighting to end.
Kerry hopes that if the regime and the rebels can agree a truce then they, Russian Federation and a US-led coalition of Western and Arab allies can focus their fire on IS. That deal called for the removal of heavy weaponry from front lines, a Russian troop withdrawal, the release of detainees and full access for global monitors. But the cease-fire has become increasingly strained.
It is expected that the meetings on Tuesday would narrow differences between Russian Federation and the US over the Syria crisis, and coordinate the worldwide anti-terror fight.
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“A lot of strikes continue go in wrong direction”, the State Department official said.
