President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he had grounds to believe Russian Federation and the United States could strike a long-awaited deal on Syria within days, allowing them to intensify the fight against Islamist militants in the country.
Advertisement
“I really hope that if we reach an agreement – and I have grounds to believe that it can happen in the next few days – we will be able to talk about significantly improving and intensifying our cooperation with the USA on fighting terrorist organisations, including those operating in Syria”, Putin said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov have been trying to reach a deal for weeks that would curb the violence between the Russian-backed Assad’s government forces and moderate rebels backed by the US.
Obama didn’t detail the trouble spots, although he suggested the U.S. has concerns about Russian Federation holding up its end of the bargain and enforcing the terms.
Islamic State fighters carried the out suicide attacks, its Amaq news agency said on Monday.
US officials have said that as part of a deal, Russian Federation would have to halt offensives by Assad’s government, something it has failed to do over months of diplomatic efforts.
The Turkish president also said he was working with US -led coalition forces and Russian Federation to establish a ceasefire in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo before the Eid al-Adha religious holiday expected to start around September 11.
Putin noted that Syria was high on the agenda of discussions during his meetings on the sideline of the summit and that Moscow would confer with the Syrian government on the progress of the talks and also inform Iran.
Negotiators had been hopeful a deal could come together while world leaders gathered in China, and American officials were optimistic enough that they invited reporters to a planned announcement by Kerry and Lavrov. “If they (the United States) wish to restore relations they have to simply cancel these decisions (on sanctions)”.
Turkey began an operation inside Syria on 24 August targetting not only IS but also Syrian Kurdish forces that have been a key USA partner in the fight against the jihadist group in Syria.
He renewed calls for an internationally-policed “no-fly zone” to protect displaced civilians and help stem refugee flows.
Two of the explosions on Monday hit the Arzouna bridge area at the entrance to the Mediterranean city of Tartous, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and state news agency SANA said.
The blasts targeted government-controlled areas and Kurdish forces. State media said one person had been killed and another three wounded.
Advertisement
Syrian state television said the first explosion was a vehicle bomb and the second a suicide belt detonated as rescue workers arrived. “It’s premature for us to say that there is a clear path forward, but there is the possibility at least for us to make some progress on that front”.
