Russian defence minister meets with Assad in Damascus

Syrian state television said the previously unannounced visit by Sergei Shoigu on June 18 was to discuss military cooperation and efforts to fight “terrorism”. He said he went to Damascus as President Vladimir Putin’s personal envoy.

On Friday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter called the Russian attacks “problematic”.

A U.S.- and Russian-brokered cease-fire that began February 27 has helped reduce hostilities, but fierce fighting has continued in many areas, particularly around Aleppo.

A draft of the cable, signed by 51 State Department officers, calls for “targeted military strikes” against Assad’s government – something Obama has long opposed – to stop its persistent violations of a ceasefire with U.S.-backed anti-government rebels that is largely ignored by Syria and its Russian supporters.

USA officials have criticized the strike near al-Tanf, saying it raised concerns about Russian intentions in Syria and promising to bring up the matter with Russia.

US officials believe the strikes were launched to pressure the USA into working with Russian Federation.

It emerged as Russian forces bombed US-backed militia in Syria, highlighting the tangle of alliances in a war where Moscow is working to prop up its chief regional partner.

USA defence officials said Russian warplanes carried out raids in Al-Tanaf targeting a meeting of combatants supported by the US-led coalition that was held to coordinate the fight against IS militants in Syria and Iraq.

A draft of the memo was obtained by The New York Times State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed the memo is real and said the State Department is reviewing it.

USA defense officials have asked Moscow to respond to its concerns, Cook added.

“For the last four years, the working level at the State Department has been urging that there be more pressure on Bashar al-Assad’s government to move to a negotiated solution” to Syria’s civil war, he said.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter said that the United States was attempting to “clarify the facts” regarding the incident.

Shoigu also visited the Hemeimeem air base in the province of Lattakia, where he talked with pilots and inspected the S-400 air defense missile systems protecting the base. In November, a Russian jet was shot down by Turkey after crossing from Syrian into Turkish airspace despite several warnings.

The Russian military has reported 10 casualties in Syria since the campaign’s start: seven Russian servicemen died from enemy fire, two were killed in a helicopter crash and one killed himself.