Moscow’s new proposal, which wasn’t supported neither by the U.S. nor by Saudi Arabia, offered to create a broad worldwide coalition to counter ISIS in the region.
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Steinmeier met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Monday.
Syrian National Coalition President Khaled Khoja attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, August 14, 2015. He decided out any coalition that could unite Riyadh and Assad.
“Confronting terrorism requires a transitional body that brings together all Syrians”, he told AFP.
Stating that the protection of state institutions in Syria is vital to stop the country from drifting into a complete chaos, he said: “The quicker Assad leaves, the better we can protect the state institutions”.
Border guard commander Saber al-Mahayra said the barriers and deep trenches being dug were especially aimed at stopping Islamic State jihadists from entering Jordanian territory. “Just a few months ago it would seem something unbelievable, but today it seems that there is no stronger friendship” than between Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia, the analyst said. “But, who will be president, Bashar Al-Assad or another one, is not very important”, said Boris Dolgov with the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburgh, said Moscow’s bid for an enlarged coalition against IS had no chance of success.
“Even though those agreements were not implemented for political reasons, Saudi Arabia has not recalled the requests to purchase Russian arms yet, which can be considered as a good sign amid current conditions”, the source said.
Throughout the conflict, Damascus and its allies in Moscow and Tehran have tended to be more optimistic than their enemies about the prospects for diplomacy, making the case that the Assad government could be rehabilitated in its foes’ eyes. “Apart from that, we don’t have any other methods or plan in our agenda concerning the struggle against Daesh”.
“Russian interest in Syria is to keep the secular regime in Syria”.
The source pointed out that it is common knowledge that ISIS was born from the Saudi regime’s mentality in practice, and they share the mentality and practices of beheading, dismemberment, and flogging in the name of Islam.
She declined however to be drawn on the latest initiative’s chances of success.
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All of which makes it near-impossible for America to achieve much of anything as long as it’s unwilling to put US boots on the ground.
