It was still a major step, however, in that it brought most of the main backers of forces fighting in Syria to the same table.
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It remains to be seen which side has the leverage to get what it wants, but between their bombing campaign, the growing regional influence of their friends in Iran, and the incredible pressure put on Europe by the migrant crisis, the Russians are holding a lot of high cards.
“Russia is fielding its own artillery and other ground assets around Hama and Homs, greatly increasing Russia’s own soldiers’ vulnerability to counterattack”, Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, said.
Russian strikes have targeted moderate opponents to Assad, killing civilians in attacks on civil defense crews, hospitals, centers for displaced persons and ambulances, she claimed.
Officials in Russian Federation and the U.S., which is also carrying out airstrikes in Syria aimed at weakening the jihadists, had previously said coordination between them was not in the cards.
Lavrov called on external players to work toward that end.
“The coordinates of all of these targets were given to us by Opposition representatives”, senior military official Andrei Kartapolov said, without specifying the groups involved.
The coalition boycotted peace talks held in Russian Federation in January and April, distrustful of the Kremlin and dismissing Damascus rivals who attended as token opposition, but it sent a delegation to Moscow in August.
However, at a joint press conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry both acknowledged differences remain over the future of al-Assad, but saying the gap would not stand in the way of ending the war in Syria.
On Tuesday Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Moscow would invite representatives of the Syrian government and opposition forces next week to hold a third consultative meeting in the Russian capital.
“We are ready, the United Nations is ready, to start immediately with this process in Geneva”, de Mistura said. “When? As soon as possible”.
Since the end of October, the United States and Russian Federation have been engaged in a diplomatic effort in Vienna to try to lay out the outlines of a political transition in Syria.
“We haven’t received any information by official channels so far regarding the endless rebukes from Washington for an ostensible destruction of civilian infrastructures and struggle with the opposition instead of the Islamic State”, Zakharova said.
Tehran has officially confirmed that the number of casualties in the Syrian war has increased, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that a few 30 Iranian servicemen have been killed in Syria over the past month.
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The city has been divided between government control in the west and rebels in the east since shortly after fighting there began in mid-2012. After this a deal was signed to avoid clashes between the two air forces.
