Kerry: US considering military talks with Russian Federation on Syria

Washington, which has seen Assad as the cause of the Syrian crisis, has been concerned by an ongoing Russian military buildup in Syria and warned Moscow that it could further destabilize the situation.

In the past few weeks, Moscow has shipped about a half-dozen battle tanks and other weaponry and sent military advisers, technicians, security guards and portable housing units to the Latakia area in Syria, an Assad stronghold.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said there can be no political solution for his country’s crisis until “terrorism” is defeated.

“I think it is true that the general feeling was Assad wouldn’t be able to hold out”, he said.

The Russian proposal comes as the US effort to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State has gotten nowhere, according to testimony Wednesday by Defense Undersecretary Christine Wormuth before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Syrian officials say the Russian military presence is restricted to experts.

“But it’s not clear exactly what he believes is the best way to advance those longer-term interests that Russian Federation may have inside of Syria“. Essentially, Martti Ahtisaari-the former president of Finland, diplomat, and Nobel Prize laureate-told the paper that during talks in 2012, Russia’s United Nations ambassador Vitaly Churkin proposed a plan under which Assad would step down following peace talks, but the idea was rebuffed by the USA , Britain, and France.

Assad said Turkish support had been crucial to the growth of two of the biggest insurgent groups in Syria, ISISand the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, and that aerial bombing by a US-led coalition has failed to stop ISIS.

This can be measured from the exchange of notes between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who reportedly discussed the “risks” if Assad continued in office.

“There is not a single coordination or contact between the Syrian government and United States government or between the Syrian army and American or U.S. army”, he said.

The Russian government said on Thursday its military support for Damascus was aimed at fighting terrorism, safeguarding Syria’s statehood and preventing a “total catastrophe” in the region.

Washington suspects Moscow is building up the air base to launch airstrikes against Islamic State – a common enemy against which the Pentagon has also pursued a bombing campaign – and to fight other rebel groups.

In the interview, Assad did not directly address the Russian moves, only praising Moscow as an “independent state” and an “impartial” broker of dialogue between Syrian groups.