Saudi Arabia is already a member of the US-led coalition that has been conducting air raids inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Syrian government or a United Nations mandate.
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While Moscow has promised to bring “new ideas” for kick-starting the peace process to Munich, Russia and Iran are adamant the rebels in Aleppo are just as much “terrorists” as IS and there can be no settlement until they have been militarily defeated.
“It seems as if we’re only halfheartedly going after ISIS, and halfheartedly helping the (rebel) Free Syria Army and others on the ground”, said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “That is what we will talk about in Munich”.
“We made proposals on implementing a ceasefire, quite specific ones”, TASS cited Lavrov as saying.
The US has been supporting Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in their fight against Islamists in Syria, but Turkey considers them to be terror groups allied to Kurdish rebels on its soil.
Russian Federation said on Thursday it was ready to discuss a ceasefire in Syria as foreign ministers gathered in Munich in a bid to kick-start peace talks derailed by the regime onslaught on the besieged city of Aleppo.
The agreement by world powers, including Russian Federation, is the latest twist in a conflict which has killed an estimated quarter of a million people and displaced millions of refugees, many of whom have headed for Europe.
The defense ministry for Russian Federation, which has been lambasted for its own airstrikes in support of a Syrian government ground offensive around Aleppo, turned the tables Thursday with an accusation against the United States.
Under questioning from House members frustrated over the sputtering anti-ISIS campaign, McGurk said the United States and its allies were making progress against the group, but face major challenges.
Tens of thousands of Syrians have fled to the Turkish border as government forces, backed by Russian bombers and Iranian fighters, bombard Aleppo, leaving the opposition there virtually surrounded.
One said the USA can’t accept Russia’s offer because opposition forces could suffer irreversible losses in northern and southern Syria before the ceasefire ever takes hold.
While Russia has proposed a cease-fire in Syria from March 1, the Obama administration wants the fighting to stop immediately, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed USA officials.
He said Turkey and its partners did not object to Russian Federation targeting militant groups such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front, but said Moscow should do so in coordination with the US-led coalition.
BEIRUT (AP) An opposition activist group and a rebel say Kurdish fighters and their allies have captured a military air base in northern Syria. The Kurds appeared to be exploiting the chaos to expand their nearby enclave, known as Afrin.
On the other hand, Col. Steve Warren, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman, said Wednesday: “The situation in and around Aleppo has become, in our view, increasingly dire…With the destruction of the two main hospitals in Aleppo by Russian and regime attacks, over 50,000 Syrians are now without any access to live-saving assistance”.
“We have not witnessed such bombardment since the revolution began”, said Abu Thabet referring to the start of the uprising against Assad’s government in March 2011.
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Syria’s five-year civil war entered a new phase last year when Russian Federation joined the conflict on the side of Assad, whose control had progressively slipped to rebels and terrorist groups.
