Kerry says Syrian ceasefire could lead to IS’ defeat in ‘months’; ground

Kerry is in Cyprus for one-day official visit.

“It means exactly the opposite”, Daniel Patrick Welch told Press TV.

“We welcome Russia’s engagement in the Syria process”.

The US seeks “nothing short of the destruction” of the war-ravaged country by toppling the “legitimate, recognized government of Syria”, he added.

The West says Assad must go, but Russian Federation launched its own air strikes on September 30 in support of his government, saying it was going after Islamic State.

“Just imagine how quickly this scourge could be eliminated, in a matter of literally months, if we were able to secure that kind of political resolution”.

Kerry’s call for a political transition coincides with the stepped-up offensive against Islamic State following the terrorist attacks in France last month that killed 130 people.

In a policy reversal, the United States on October 30 said it would send up to 50 U.S. special forces to Syria to coordinate on the ground with US-backed rebels. The coalition, he said, is targeting the Islamic State nearly exclusively.

Mr Kerry said that progress had been made on sealing the porous border between Syria and Turkey, which has been an important lifeline for the Islamic State and an irritant for the countries fighting the militant group.

The Balkan head of state posited that a mistake committed within Turkey’s leadership caused the November 24 downing of a Russian aircraft by a Turkish after over Syria.

The United States in a dialog with the European partners will support the extension of the current sanctions against Russian Federation till the Minsk Agreements are fully implemented.

“It still has problems of corruption and organized crime, the judiciary etcetera, but I think geopolitics has played a role here”, said Judah. The thinking is that peace between the government and moderates would allow the global community to focus military efforts exclusively on defeating IS, al-Qaida’s Syria affiliate and other extremist groups.

The U.S. secretary of state pointed out during his address that “journalists are also threatened”, that they are “brave, some of them on the front lines, while their names are unknown to all but their families”. “Terrorism, organized crime, climate change and the current migration crisis require urgent, resolute and coordinated response from all of us”, Dacic said in his speech.

“This year we celebrate 40 years of the Helsinki Final Act and everyone has a responsibility to uphold the standards of the document that serves as a landmark for human rights and territorial integrity of each member”, Kerry said.