The eight-page proposal, published Wednesday by the Washington Post, would expand intelligence sharing between the USA and Russian Federation so the two nations can cooperate in targeting and bombing efforts against Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and the Islamic State.
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“We have reaffirmed the goal – to eliminate threats posed by the Islamic State, Nusra Front and other terrorist groups, stop the flow of support of terrorism from overseas”, Lavrov said at a joint news conference with US State Secretary John Kerry following talks in Moscow.
But critics of United States policy are bound to see any offer to aid Putin’s campaign in Syria – even against jihadists – as a victory for the Kremlin’s intervention in Syria.
“No”, Peskov said answering the question whether Kerry had raised this issue during yesterday’s talks with Putin.
“Our last conversation with President Obama convinces me that we are not just developing cooperation, but doing so with the aim of achieving tangible results”, President Putin said.
Putin had expressed reluctance to meet with Kerry, and the US delegation seemed more prepared for the Lavrov-Kerry talks than did the Russians, unloading large binders onto the negotiation table compared with the Russians’ handful of papers.
“They have to decide if they’re going to use the military to prop up the Assad regime or if they’re going to use their military to go after extremists”, Earnest said, “Our case is you can’t do both”.
According to Peskov, Russia’s stance on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the talks with John Kerry has remained unchanged.
The Syrian president said in an interview released on Thursday that his Russian ally has “never” discussed a political transition with him, despite global support for such a process.
The proposal being discussed would potentially set up a Joint Operation Center for the two sides to work out of, according to a draft first disclosed by the Washington Post.
In what seemed to be a bid to urge Mr. Lavrov to take advantage of the deal Mr. Kerry had presented him, Mr. Kerry said Russian Federation and the US “have the ability uniquely here to be able to make a difference”.
A landmark partial ceasefire they brokered in February – which did not include IS or Al-Nusra – has since all but collapsed amid continued heavy fighting.
While the draft document primarily focuses on al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, it does say that the cooperation may also facilitate strikes against ISIS, also known as Daesh, but it adds that both countries “reserve the right to conduct unilateral strikes against Daesh targets outside of designated areas”.
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Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011 when Assad brutally suppressed anti-government demonstrations and has evolved into catastrophe that has left more than 280,000 dead. Turkey’s military said it had seized control.
