Washington has repeatedly insisted that Assad must step down as part of a peaceful resolution to Syria’s civil war, while Moscow has been adamant that it is for the Syrian people to decide their own fate and choose their own government.
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Assad’s government uses the term “terrorist” for all armed opposition fighters and militants battling his forces, whether they are Western-backed rebels or al-Qaida and other Islamic fighters.
Putin said at the start of his meeting with Kerry that his last conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama had convinced him that both sides were honest in their efforts to find a solution in Syria.
In what is the most incandescent of all conflicts in the world today, the raging war in Syria, Washington is the one adjusting its policies in a rather dramatic fashion.
“She worked with the terrorists, and because she came illegally, she’s been responsible of everything that befall on her”, Assad said, speaking in English.
He added that while Lavrov and Kerry did not want to “exacerbate things together.it does not look like the problem will be solved easily”.
Some 300,000 civilians are still in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, without access to much-needed humanitarian supplies, as fighting has made it impossible for aid convoys to reach the city, the United Nations said earlier this week.
United States officials downplayed the significance of the military offer, reported by The Washington Post, arguing they would have gone after Al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, anyway.
Russian Federation has claimed ignorance of Kerry’s agenda in Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also declined to comment on the report before Moscow had seen what Washington had to offer.
The plan calls for the creation of a Joint Implementation Group, to be based in Jordan, which will facilitate intelligence sharing of al-Nusra locations in order to identify targets for strikes, as well as other elements of military cooperation.
The United States is offering Russian Federation a new military pact against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and Al Qaida in Syria, according to a leaked USA proposal, but analysts say the US had no choice but to cooperate with Russian Federation on Moscow’s terms after Russia’s show of strength in the region.
The extent of cooperation proposed in the document would represent a major US shift after years of rivalry between Washington and Moscow, which support opposing sides in Syria’s five-year civil war, but the idea has raised doubts among USA defence and intelligence officials. -Russian military cooperation in Syria is conditional.
The Washington Post obtained the eight-page leaked document that shows the US proposing that Washington and Moscow “work together to defeat” the two extremist groups, according to the Associated Press.
Kerry arrived on Thursday for talks with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and President Vladimir Putin amid a flurry of US media reports regarding greater U.S.
“Anything that helps move the process in that direction is something that we would welcome”, he added.
A partial Syria cease-fire negotiated by the United States and Russian Federation in February broke down after about six weeks because of both flagrant regime violations as well as attacks by al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, the senior State Department official said.
Cooperation with Moscow has always been viewed with suspicion, as it would amount to acceptance of Russia’s backing for the Assad regime.
The former Cold War foes support opposing sides in the conflict, with Russian Federation bombing in support of the Syrian government, and the USA arming and training rebels.
But there has been little progress towards a resumption of talks that had been expected to take place this month.
But the fate of Assad remains unresolved, with the opposition demanding that he must leave power immediately. Such a deal is likely to face the criticism that it amounts to a tacit acceptance of Putin’s efforts to shore up Assad’s regime.
His comments come days after relatives of the longtime war correspondent filed a lawsuit in a USA court alleging Assad’s regime targeted her to stop her covering government atrocities.
Assad also discussed the death of US-born journalist Marie Colvin, denying that his forces killed the veteran correspondent for The Times in 2012.
His comments came days after relatives of Colvin filed a lawsuit in a USA court alleging Assad’s regime targeted her to stop her covering government atrocities.
The Syrian government has contended that its attacks targeted “terrorists”.
“We’re not conducting or coordinating any military operations with Russian Federation at this moment”, Cook added.
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The Syrian President also described the U.S. air strikes in Syria and Iraq as “counterproductive and ineffective” and called them “pro forma actions”.
