President Barack Obama said on Sunday that USA and Russian negotiators are working “around the clock” to try to strike a deal to reduce violence in Syria, but added “we’re not there yet”.
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Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were expected to interact during this week’s Group of 20 summit, though a formal meeting was not on the books. Eager to show he wouldn’t yield, Obama said he would “undoubtedly” still bring up human rights and due process concerns “if and when” the two do meet.
The US leader said a previous bid to reduce violence had unravelled and the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad – backed by Moscow – were again “bombing with impunity” and driving more people to join radical militia groups. The Kurds are the most effective USA -backed anti-IS force, but the Turks consider them to be terrorists.
The United States and Russia came up short Sunday on an agreement to end more than five years of civil war between Syria’s Russian-backed government and US -supported rebels. “I think that in October-November, we will have a list of projects and financing in order to start working on these issues”, the minister added.
The US president also mentioned the stock-piling of “cyber weapons” in the form of zero-day exploits and digital attack capabilities, a cycle reminiscent of the Cold War arms race whose effects are still being felt today.
It follows equally unsuccessful talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Last month, Turkish officials shared information with USA delegations in Turkey on four different files on Gulen, who is also accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
On Aug. 26, Kerry met with Lavrov in Geneva to try to build momentum for the proposal. The official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss negotiations publicly and requested anonymity, didn’t elaborate.
If Obama is “very clear, very direct and can send the message in the right way, the right tone, he could get Erdogan to understand the USA position in Syria”, she told reporters before the meeting.
“I’m really hoping that this agreement can be reached and I have grounds to believe it could happen in the next few days”, said Putin. That has led opposition forces, including those with ties to terrorism, to ramp up recruitment of new fighters, the president said.
The relationship between Obama and Putin has been strained in recent months over a number of issues such as cybersecurity. On opposing sides of many global issues, the US and Russian Federation are nonetheless trying to broker a deal to address the Syrian civil war and perhaps even partner militarily there.
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He also said that the work on the establishment of Russian-Turkish Investment Fund is about to be completed.
