UN chief says Syria airstrikes must observe laws

Russia’s air strikes were its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.

A key unanswered question, however, is what the US will do if the Russian airstrikes target moderate Syrian rebel groups working with the coalition in the fight against the Islamic State. The U.S. has led a coalition of Western allies and regional states that has been flying missions to Syria for a year.

It was opened “on the basis of indications received from the foreign ministry” on 10 September, an official at the prosecutor’s office said.

Today’s events seem to prove the skeptics right.

“We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conflict,” he said. John McCain gave a blistering speech on the floor of the Senate, calling Russia’s actions “the inevitable outcome of hollow words, red lines crossed, tarnished moral influence, leading from behind and a total lack of American leadership”.

According to Cook, the goal of the “de-confliction discussions” will be to ensure the ongoing U.S.-led coalition air strikes against the IS are not “interrupted” by any future Russian military activity and to avoid misjudgment and miscalculation.

Russia’s decision to become militarily involved in Syria has been backed by a number of senior Conservative MPs who believe working with Mr Assad is the “lesser evil” in the fight against Islamic State.

Kerry said that, despite Washington’s concern over Russia’s support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and its choice of targets in its just-launched bombing campaign, the two men had developed ideas to push forward the political process there.

Reflecting growing tension between the big powers, Kerry phoned Lavrov early on Wednesday to tell him the United States regarded the strikes as unsafe, a UN official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Russian air force said it began targeting Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria yesterday hours after Vladimir Putin won approval from Russian parliament to send troops into combat overseas.

“Overall, a few 20 sorties were made”, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov.

“If (militants) succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russian Federation, too”, Putin said in a televised speech at a government session.

The United States supports any genuine effort to fight ISIL and Al Qaeda-affiliated groups, especially al-Nusra.

“If, on the other hand, this is action against the Free Syrian Army in support of Assad the dictator, then obviously that is a retrograde step but let us see exactly what has happened.”