Declarations from Putin seem to be the first to affirm Moscow is truly supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s adversaries in the combat against forces from the Islamic State.
Advertisement
All forces threatening the Russian military presence in Syria must be destroyed, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
Putin said Russia’s military must continue its program of training drills and devote special attention to the “transport of troops over long distances” as well as “strategic nuclear deterrence” and the ability to airlift forces including “anti-aircraft, missile and electronic elements”.
“I order you to act in an extremely tough way”.
Shoigu, during his follow-on address, held firm to the anti-Islamic State narrative, claiming that the Russian air group have flown about 4,000 sorties in 10 weeks of operations, resulting in the destruction of over 8,000 pieces of military infrastructure belonging to terrorists in Syria.
The YPG has been the most effective partner on the ground in Syria for the U.S.-led coalition that is pounding Islamic State from the air.
“We are supporting them (the FSA) from the air as well as the Syrian army, assisting them with weapons, munition and materiel”.
A few hours later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had been talking about weapons supplies to the armed forces loyal to Assad.
“Immediately after that, the Turkish vessel abruptly changed course and without getting in touch with the Russian crew passed within 540 meters of the patrol ship”, according to the statement. If true, that would represent a major shift in the Kremlin’s tactics.
Turkey’s foreign minister says his country is refraining from responding to Russian efforts to hit back at Turkey over its downing of a Russian jet, but says the country’s patience is not without limits.
Secretary of State John Kerry said he would talk with his Saudi counterpart about how to fix problems in the deal reached Thursday by Syrian rebel groups meeting in Riyadh.
Putin said it was important to develop cooperation “with all states that have a real interest in destroying the terrorists”.
Mr Putin didn’t elaborate on particular risks but Russia and Turkey are now locked in a dispute within the downing of a Russian jet by Ankara.
Russian Federation has been bombing targets in Syria since September 30 as part of what is described officially as an anti-IS campaign.
“They will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a political transition in Syria”, spokesman Mark Toner said today on the sidelines of the United Nations climate summit in Paris.
The Russian foreign ministry said it hoped the visit, Kerry’s second this year, would improve what it said were the “complicated” relations between the rival countries.
Advertisement
He added the navy received two new nuclear-powered submarines equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles, two general-purpose submarines and eight surface warships this year.
