Kerry says North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members ready to step up anti-IS fight

As Washington’s interests in Syria, where Daesh is wreaking havoc, are “diametrically opposed” to those of Moscow, Secretary of State John Kerry’s praise for Russia’s engagement against the Takfiris mean “exactly the opposite”, an analyst says.

On the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation event in Belgrade, Serbia, Kerry met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a bid to smooth out tensions that have simmered since Turkey downed a Russian warplane last week.

After two days of meetings at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, Kerry said several alliance members were bringing more to the battle or would do soon.

The announcement of the new special operations force comes as Republicans have called for more USA boots on the ground, while war-weary Americans stand divided about the prospect of greater military involvement.

Kerry praised British Prime Minister David Cameron as Britain s parliament looked set to vote in favour of joining the US-led bombing campaign against IS in Syria.

There would be further consultations between Turkish and US military authorities to ensure that the border could no longer be used to move “illegally transported oil”, a crucial source of funds for the militants, or “the passage of foreign fighters in one direction or another”, Mr Kerry said. “Whereas the coalition is focused nearly entirely on ISIL”.

Kerry said the US has specifically asked for special forces instructors, police trainers and so-called “enablers”, such as transport and medical facilities.

“I think we know that without the ability to find some ground forces that are prepared to take on Daesh, this will not be won completely from the air”. “We will continue to work very, very closely with our Iraqi partners on exactly who would be deployed, where they would be deployed, what kinds of missions people would undertake, how they would support Iraqi efforts to degrade and destroy Daesh”.

Although he didn’t reference the Canadian combat withdrawal, Kerry did give the Liberal government an opening by saying that there are a number of countries willing to step up and the contributions don’t necessarily “have to be troops engaged in kinetic action”.

He insisted it is not a sign of weakening resolve in the face of the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine and for the moment the embattled country’s foreign minister seemed prepared to accept the shifting position.