Israeli officials said Russian Federation had contacted Israeli defense officials prior to conducting its airstrike operation in Syria.
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Reflecting growing tension between the big powers, Kerry phoned Lavrov early on Wednesday to tell him the United States regarded the strikes as risky, a U.S. official told Reuters.
“Assad is the murderer of innocents in his country, and if the President hadn’t created the red line and hadn’t talked tough and done nothing the Syrian Free Army would be a force to reckon with right now”, Bush said.
Russian Federation says it will provide only “aviation support” to Syria’s army, according to the Tass news agency. And today, US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated that demand.
But we must not and will not be confused in our fight against ISIL with support for (Syrian President Bashar) Assad.
But sources claim the strikes are aimed at supporting embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by striking opposition groups rather than ISIS, sometimes referred to as Daesh.
He promised that the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria would “dramatically accelerate our efforts”.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday evening, United States defence chief Ashton Carter said Russian strikes were in areas “where there were probably not Isil forces“, accusing Putin’s forces of “pouring gasoline on the fire” of the four-year civil war.
Early indications seemed to suggest that is precisely what occurred on Wednesday.
It was also not immediately apparent whether the attack signified the start of regular Russian airstrikes. None of the areas targeted were controlled by IS, activists said.
But North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has expressed concern about the targets and it has been claimed more than 30 civilians have been killed after rebel areas were hit.
“As a result of airstrikes, ammunition and fuel depots, heavy military hardware, as well as command posts in the mountainous areas have been destroyed”, he added.
Russian Federation launched airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament’s unanimous backing to intervene to prop up the Kremlin’s closest Middle East ally. “Russian Federation has enormous influence over Assad when it chooses to use it”. The Russian military leases a vital port in the Syrian city of Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.
He added that more formal talks with the Russians should get under way “within days”.
The Russian government also worries about the threat of radical Islamic extremists.
But Danahar says Moscow sees an opportunity to bolster its influence in the region.
“In the negotiation period, we have not put any preconditions, but in the transitional period it’s very clear that Assad has no role in this transitional government”.
ROBERT WORK, Deputy Secretary of Defense: We are alarmed by what happened this morning.
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“This is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the Russian military”, Carter said.
