He was speaking at the start of talks with Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Laos.
Advertisement
Kerry has defended the proposal despite deep skepticism among top American military and intelligence officials, including Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, over working with Russian Federation.
“My hope would be that somewhere in early August – the first week or so, somewhere in there – we would be in a position to be able stand up in front of you and tell you what we’re able to do with the hopes that it can make a difference to the lives of people in Syria and to the course of the war”, he said.
At a Pentagon news conference Monday, Carter says the Russians are “a long way” from aligning their military focus with that of the United States.
According to preliminary reports, the discussion between Lavrov and Kerry will touch upon the situation in Syria, the untangling of the Ukrainian crisis, and the problems of bilateral relations. I think we’re a ways from getting that frame of mind in Russian Federation. “This is what Secretary Kerry is exploring”, but the Russians thus far “obviously have been backing [the] regime” of Assad.
The proposal envisages Washington and Moscow sharing intelligence to coordinate air strikes against the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and prohibit the Syrian air force from attacking moderate rebel groups.
The proposal has met with deep skepticism by top American military and intelligence officials.
“We’re not entering into a transaction that is founded on trust, ” Dunford insisted, adding that there would be processes in place to limit information sharing to situations based on “mutual interest”, and wouldn’t give the Russians a clear view of everything the USA is doing in Syria.
While U.S. military leaders appeared cool to closer cooperation with Russian Federation in the battle against Islamic State and Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affliate Nusra Front, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump seemed downright enthusiastic about the idea.
Advertisement
Dunford denied reports that USA -backed opposition forces have coordinated with Nusra in some cases.
