I will not quit under foreign pressure, says Syrian president

Nevertheless, Russian officials have played down the deliveries of military hardware to Syria, the newspaper added.

We think that is Kerry-speak (is “deconflict” even a word?) for maybe it would be a good idea to talk before Russian pilots accidentally bomb the living daylights out of ours or vice versa.

Reuters has previously reported on U.S. assessments that Russia has sent about 200 naval infantry forces, battle tanks, artillery and other equipment to an airfield near Latakia.

Assad said the US, which has been leading a coalition that is carrying out airstrikes on ISIL in Syria and Iraq, refuses to work and coordinate with his government.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has also contacted Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a bid to clarify the intent of Moscow’s military build up.

Assad’s remarks struck a far more confident tone than a speech he gave in July in which he acknowledged military defeats because of manpower problems in his military.

Kerry was not specific about what the talks would involve, although he suggested they would be about ensuring that U.S. and Russian aircraft do not come into conflict with each other in Syria.

“The West is supporting terrorists since the beginning of this crisis when it said it was “a peaceful uprising” – as they called it”.

U.S. policy has been that Assad’s brutal execution of the war against rebels, who include U.S.-backed opponents and radical groups, has made his rule incompatible with bringing peace through diplomacy in Syria.

In his call with Lavrov on Tuesday, his third in 10 days, Kerry said he sought clarity about Moscow’s moves and warned that Russian support for Assad “risks exacerbating and extending the conflict”.

Several Western leaders have previously slammed al-Assad for his handling of the violence in his country, the bloody war resulting to the displacement of more than 4 million Syrians abroad, as well as the rise of the ISIS.

The increased Russian presence may complicate Israeli military efforts to thwart Syrian arms deliveries to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, and attacks on its Golan Heights frontier emanating from within Syrian territory.

Assad denied that Iranian military units are fighting on the side of government forces, but said that Iran has supplied weapons.

Meanwhile, France confirmed its fighter jets will start bombing IS targets in Syria in the coming weeks, despite growing doubts over whether the US-led air campaign against extremists in the region is working.