Davutoglu said Tuesday that “Turkey is prepared to make every contribution possible to any meeting related to the fight against terrorism, regardless of where it is organized or by whom it is organized”. But neither gave any hint on whether any other groups might be placed on the list.
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Kerry added: “The United States and Russian Federation have an ability to be able to make a significant difference here”.
The results of Tuesday’s meetings will determine whether or not a new worldwide diplomatic conference on Syria will go ahead as planned Friday at the United Nations.
The two countries have split on Ukraine since Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region a year ago and its ongoing, though diminished, support for separatist rebels in the east of the country. But the State Department official said the United States has made its position “absolutely clear”.
“Armenpress” reports referring to Sputnik International that Kerry announced that Russian Federation and the U.S. had discussed exchanging data on the locations of anti-terrorist operations, and that Washington is not pursuing a policy of isolating Russian Federation.
Kerry hopes that if the Syrian government and rebels can agree a truce then they, Russian Federation and a USA led coalition of Western and Arab allies can focus their fire on ISIS.
Looming over the effort is the threat posed by the Islamic State (IS) group to spread the carnage beyond Syria’s borders. That would allow everyone to direct firepower against the extremists.
Power says the resolution would be the first high-profile gesture by the often divided council to “show its unity around the importance of achieving a political settlement and a political transition”.
Kerry’s unusually long, three-and-a-half hour meeting with Putin followed a day of discussions with Lavrov, trying to explore ways of inching forward a peace process for Syria, which recently has taken on a new urgency.
Relations between Ankara and Moscow have been in an unabated tailspin since November 24, when Turkey downed a Russian jet. Over the last month, the United Kingdom and France have both voted to join airstrikes against the terror group in Syria. Representatives of Syria’s opposition hope this week to finalize their negotiating team for talks with Assad’s government. Assad, however, has insisted he will not meet with “terrorists”, who he says are among the groups that have been invited to the table.
Earlier Tuesday in the Kremlin, Putin noted several “outstanding issues” between Russian Federation and its former Cold War foe.
He also said he conveyed to Putin Washington’s concern “that some of Russia’s strikes have hit the moderate opposition” in Syria, and not just the Islamic State group. Iran, Saudi Arabia’s foremost rival, is not a member of the new anti-terrorism alliance.
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US-Russia ties have also been strained over Ukraine, especially over US sanctions on Moscow, but the two sides have tried to bridge the gap on Syria.
