Turkey should pay for plane shot down near Syrian border: Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin met US Secretary of State John Kerry for talks in the Kremlin yesterday, in a bid to break a deadlock over resolving the Syrian civil war and to focus on combating Isil.

The United States and Russian Federation appear to have bridged some of their differences on war-ravaged Syria, with Moscow endorsing a plan for a third round of talks in NY this Friday to discuss a political transition.

The most dramatic sign of that came Tuesday with the statement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that Assad’s future will be determined by the Syrian people, suggesting in the clearest way yet that he can stay on for now and be part of a transition.

Mr Kerry’s second visit to Russian Federation this year comes as the USA seeks to use a meeting on Friday in NY to pursue efforts for a ceasefire and an interim power-sharing government in Syria. Rather, it is on facilitating a peace process in which “Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria”.

President Barack Obama first called on Assad to step down in 2011- a call which has been repeated for years, though that call later softened.

It was ridiculous for Obama to stomp his foot yet again over Assad, as Russian Federation was committing serious forces to defend his ally in Damascus from rebel forces. That means the Russians will continue to depend on America and the few countries bombing ISIS to keep the terrorists occupied while Putin crushes the rebellion.

Asked Tuesday about the USA request, von der Leyen told public broadcaster ARD that “I’m going to write back and say, of course, we’re on your side, you know that, in the fight against the Islamic State”. Syrian opposition groups, however, demand that Assad leave at the start of the process.

Jordan is working on finalizing the list of terrorist vs. legitimate opposition forces.

The ISSG agreed to try to bring Syrian and government opposition representatives into U.N.-mediated talks by January. It urged USA citizens to “defer” travel to two eastern regions of the country and Crimea, which Russian Federation annexed a year ago.

Nadim Houry, HRW deputy Middle East director, said at a news conference in Moscow that there must be a real push “for independent monitors to be finally granted access to detention facilities”. Kerry doubled down on this, however, insisting that the U.S. and Russian Federation see Syria’s future fundamentally the same way.

“The situation surrounding the Russian-American relationship remains complicated”, the Ministry said.

“Together the United States and Russian Federation have the ability to make a significant difference here”, Kerry told Putin as they began meeting at the Kremlin.

“Russia and the United States agree that this is a threat to everybody, to every country”, he said.