“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 U.S. is doing in Syria.
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Defense Secretary Ash Carter is casting doubt on prospects for a military partnership with Russian Federation to combat the Islamic State inside Syria.
Kerry’s talks with Lavrov in Laos on Tuesday and with Putin in Moscow 10 days ago came after a leaked proposal showed the US offering Russian Federation a broad new military partnership against IS and the Nusra Front, which is al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate.
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. In exchange Moscow would use its influence with the Syrian regime to effectively ground the Syrian air force and promote a political solution to a civil war that has killed as many as a half a million people.
Kerry has defended the proposal despite deep skepticism among top American military and intelligence officials over Russia’s intentions.
His comments followed remarks from Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Monday in which he said Kerry’s efforts with Russian Federation have been complicated by the fact that Russian Federation is focused mainly on supporting the Syrian government, which he said has had the effect of prolonging the civil war. “And second, the defeat of extremism there and in Iraq”, Carter said.
Opponents of the deal point out that by cooperating with Russian Federation, the USA will have to negotiate the very definition of terrorist, and could inadvertently bomb moderate rebels who only oppose the Assad regime.
Washington-Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday brushed aside accusations that Moscow was behind the hacking of Democratic Party emails.
The talks are “based on a transaction and on mutual interest to the extent. we’re able to identify that with the Russians”, Carter said.
In Europe, the Russian military has conducted a series of aggressive actions and maneuvers against US military ships and planes.
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So far, the Pentagon has limited its contact with Russia about Syria to de-conflicting the location of US and Russian aircraft.
