The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
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Moscow has mainly targeted central and northwestern Syria, strategic regions that are the gateway to President Bashar Assad’s strongholds in Damascus, and along the Mediterranean coast.
Moscow says that a Western information war is underway aimed at distorting the objective of its operation in Syria. On the other hand, the Russians do not want to wear themselves out in ground fighting in eastern Syria – controlled by Islamic State – but prefer to halt the group’s westward expansion toward Syria’s principal urban centers.
Andrei Kartapolov of the Russian General Staff told Russian news agencies the strikes were planned so that the cruise missiles would fly “over unpopulated areas”. Following Russia’s intervention, Barack Obama is said to have authorised the Pentagon to distribute more ammunition and a few weapons to 30,000 troops who he hopes will advance on Raqqa, IS’s Syrian capital.
Mr. Lute said it is Russian airstrikes that pose the greatest danger, because of the threat of a clash between the U.S.-led coalition and Russian planes.
Even as evidence piles up that Russian jets are targeting CIA-backed “moderate” factions, Barack Obama’s administration remains hesitant to ramp up support for the rebels, as its Gulf allies and Turkey have urged it to do.
Matviyenko’s remarks came three days after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that he had the government’s approval to welcome Russia’s air campaign against terrorists inside Iraq.
The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said rebels were able to destroy two tanks and an armored personnel carrier in northern Hama province near Idlib.
The Observatory said 37 Russian air raids hit on Wednesday alone.
Two low-flying helicopters were seen in Morek but escaped militant fire, the Observatory said.
That same month in New York, I sat down with Churkin at the Russian mission to the United Nations on East 67th Street over tea and cookies and asked him explain his country’s seemingly unshakeable commitment to the Syrian leader. Most of the casualties have been blamed on Assad, whose forces regularly use lethal barrel bombs that are feared for their destructive force – and imprecise nature.
“If you hit (IS), Nusra Front or Ahrar al-Sham, you are still working within the Security Council resolution,” he said.
In conversation with Shoigu, Putin said it was too early to talk about the results of Russia’s operations in Syria and ordered his minister to continue cooperation with the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq on the crisis.
The United States, Carter said, is not prepared to cooperate with a strategy of Russia’s that is “tragically flawed”.
“We believe that this centre will develop in the near future to be a joint operation command to lead the war against Daesh in Iraq”, said Zamili, using a derogatory Arabic acronym for ISIS. In Syria’s bloody crazy-quilt landscape, where we have even less reliable allies on the ground, the possibilities for such deadly mistakes are myriad.
The Government is “building the case” for airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria, the Defence Secretary has told Sky News.
The USA maintains that the only route to peace in Syria is to remove Assad from power.
Over the weekend, Russian Federation also violated Turkish airspace, from where the US and coalition forces launch strikes into Syria.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said Wednesday that he could not provide details, including the number of times this has happened.
Davutoglu said he did not want the conflict in Syria turning into a crisis between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nor into a Russian-Turkish dispute, but that Turkey would not compromise on the security of its borders or air space.
The USA has pledged to make this an “IS-free zone”, a goal Turkey supports as long as Syrian Kurds are denied control of the area, preventing them from linking up Kurdish-held sectors along the Syrian-Turkish border.
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The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov over an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian warplane, the ministry said in a statement Monday, RIA Novosti reports.
