US Secretary of State John Kerry travelled to Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the ongoing conflict in Syria, urging him to boost military and intelligence cooperation against Islamic State. But he wouldn’t detail those steps. (Putin also received Kerry today.) A major topic of discussion on their agenda is reportedly proposals for US-Russian military cooperation against terrorist groups in Syria.
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“We’ve always made clear that we would welcome… a military contribution from Russian Federation, as long as they were focused on ISIL and Al Qaeda’s presence in Syria”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Lavrov and Kerry also called for more efforts from the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to further promote the Syrian talks and to introduce proposals for conflicting parties to revive the paece-seeking dialogue.
Mozahem al-Saloum of the New Syrian Army, which is fighting IS in eastern Syria, blamed Nusra for paving the way for IS, and said the USA plan could work if it guarantees Assad’s departure. He said other opposition forces, too, have sometimes been culpable in violations.
On Thursday alone, six Tupolev bombers flew out of an airbase in Russian Federation and conducted strikes east of Palmyra, near the cities of Arak and Sukhna, as well as in the Homs region, it said.
“They discussed different cooperation formats, but the topic of direct cooperation between the military in combating terrorism in Syria was not mentioned”, Peskov said.
The proposal being discussed would potentially set up a Joint Operation Center for the two sides to work out of, according to a draft first disclosed by the Washington Post.
The Syrian leader said that Russian Federation has never “said a single word” regarding him leaving office.
In the interview Assad dismissed the United States efforts as “not serious”. While Jabhat al-Nusra is a problem, teaming up with the Russian air force might not be the best solution.
For that reason, the USA has nearly entirely avoided bombing Nusra targets in recent months. Al Nusra has emerged as “one of the most effective anti-Assad forces”, and the proposed deal would “bring American firepower to bear against the strongest anti-Assad military force and a sometime partner of Washington’s allies”, the New York Times reported on Friday.
“And I think people all over the world are looking to us and waiting for us to find a faster and more tangible way” to fight terrorism, Kerry said.
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“Nowhere is there a greater hotbed or incubator for these terrorists than in Syria”, Kerry told Lavrov in front of journalists earlier in the day.
