But yesterday (Tuesday), the head of Iran’s elite revolutionary guards suggested the nations disagreed over their end game.
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Talks in Vienna on Friday among the main foreign players involved in diplomatic efforts on Syria failed to reach agreement on tackling the regime.
But another regime change in the Middle East could be a catastrophe that “could simply turn the whole region into a large black hole”.
Maria Zakhrova, the Russian spokeswoman, clearly stated that it was neither Russia’s agenda nor priority to save Syrian President Bashar al-Assad nor see to it that he remains in power.
She said discussions in Vienna are “more promising” than previous talks on Syria.
In Syria, warplanes pounded the ISIL stronghold of Raqqa on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people including 13 extremists, a monitoring group said.
Before striking the agreement on air safety protocols, the USA repeatedly accused Russian aircraft of coming within miles of American drones and piloted American fighter jets, stoking concerns about an accidental clash.
The US and its allies insist Assad must leave office as part of any accord, though they have in recent weeks signaled they could countenance him staying on in a transitional administration.
Davis said one USA fighter aircraft conducted a three-minute planned communications test with one Russian fighter aircraft over south central Syria.
Russia’s military use the aviation and other means only against the targets of terrorist groups in Syria, Antonov stressed.
Russian Federation said earlier that it could host a meeting between the Syrian government and unspecified members of the opposition next week in Moscow.
“The second list is for opposition delegations which will hold talks with the government – under United Nations auspices – with the representative of the Secretary-General taking a coordinating role”.
The United States and Russian Federation signed a “memorandum of understanding” on October 20 aimed at de-conflicting their air operations over Syria, where they are waging parallel air campaigns with different objectives.
Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his government’s goal in Syria is “to rebuff terrorists”.
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Russia’s direct involvement in the Syrian Civil War began on September 30, 2015, when Russian troops entered Syria to aid the Syrian government in fighting the rebels based in their country.
