The warning came as President Barack Obama’s top national security aides continued to wrangle over whether and how to cooperate militarily with the Russians in the event those conditions are met.
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“The President expressed deep concern that, despite decreased violence across the country, the Syrian regime continues to block the flow of critical humanitarian aid”, the White House said. Any US military cooperation with the Kremlin could be seen as a tacit endorsement of its war in Syria and support for the Assad regime, which has used barrel bombs and chemical weapons against civilians.
“The United States has relayed our regret through the Russian Federation for the unintentional loss of life of Syrian forces fighting ISIL”, this official said.
At least 62 soldiers were killed in the strike, according to Russian officials and a Syrian monitoring group.
The Iranian official further pointed to Washington’s continued support for al-Nusra Front in Syria, saying that the USA has never targeted the positions of the terrorist group, which has been blacklisted by the United Nations. The request for the extra United States forces had come from Turkey, said Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway.
The US has warned Russian Federation that it will not set up a promised military cooperation project until Syria’s regime forces allow aid into besieged cities.
Russian Federation on Friday said a UN Security Council endorsement of a Syrian ceasefire deal between Moscow and Washington appeared unlikely, because of the US’s refusal to share details with the 15-member body.
A UN Security Council meeting scheduled for Saturday on the US-Russian truce agreement for Syria was called off when it became clear that hostilities were continuing without pause well after the ceasefire was due to start last Monday.
Reuters quotes a rebel official as blaming Moscow for undermining the ceasefire. Syrian state TV said bulldozers began clearing the road on the northwestern edge of Aleppo that leads into besieged rebel-held neighborhoods to make way for the convoys. “We are as ready to go as we can possibly be”.
Aid for Aleppo, however, has been stuck on the Turkish border for five days now, with the United Nations calling on the Syrian government to “immediately” allow life-saving supplies into the city’s rebel-held areas, where about 300,000 people are living under siege.
Aid convoys for Syria’s war-ravaged city of Aleppo were delayed Friday for the fourth day as the United States and Russian Federation, sponsors of a Syria cease-fire deal, traded accusations over who was to blame.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Syria’s besieged rebel-held part of the city of Aleppo were held up for yet another day as heavy fighting broke out Friday on the edges of Damascus between government forces and insurgents.
Syria’s government said it was doing all that was necessary for the arrival of aid to those in need it in all parts of the country, particularly to eastern Aleppo.
On Friday a barrage of rocket fire and shelling could be heard coming from the rebel-held east Damascus district of Jobar, an AFP correspondent said.
The aid impasse came as Russian Federation put pressure on the USA to release the text of the agreement, and urged the U.S. to allow it to form the basis of a United Nations security council resolution next week.
His colleague, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said the American special forces would provide the same training, advice and other assistance that the USA has been giving to other Syrian opposition groups – such as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – which are fighting ISIL in northern Syria.
With the arrival of USA forces, the focus would turn to the town of Dabiq, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) northeast of Aleppo and 10 kilometers south of Syria’s border with Turkey.
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Zakharova was quoted by the state news agency Tass as saying that “after today’s attack on the Syrian army, we come to the bad conclusion that the White House is defending the Islamic State”.
