Russia, Jordan agree on military coordination on Syria

“The military of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions through a working mechanism in Amman, capital of Jordan”, Lavrov said in comments broadcast by Rossiya-24 television channel.

Iran has developed proposals on how to end the Syrian war that could potentially lead to a “breakthrough”, Churkin said. Kerry then met separately with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s prime backer.

The USA, Turkey and Saudi Arabia all share the view that Assad must go if the conflict is to be resolved.

On Thursday, Samantha Power, the United States’ U.N. ambassador, said Russian airstrikes were an interference in Syria that were making Islamic State stronger.

Fadila Mahmud Naasan said her son served in the army and that their family had to flee the city because of militants targeting the families of Assad’s loyalists.

“The most important message the president’s visit conveyed was that he remains Syria’s legitimate leader and that he can travel to and from Syria safely”, Nahla Isa, a professor at Damascus University’s Media Faculty, told Xinhua.

Since the beginning of the air campaign, Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out a few 830 strikes, killing several hundred militants and destroying dozens of command centers, and depots used by the terrorists.

Russian Federation says its strikes target the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and other “terrorists”, but rebels and the USA, which is conducting its own campaign against ISIL, say Moscow has focused more on forces fighting Assad than ISIL.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday Russian Federation would be happy to cooperate with opposition forces in Syria but will base its decisions on who it should talk to upon consultations with the Syrian government, as well as with the West and countries from the Middle East which advocate Assad’s removal from power.

On Friday, Syrian activists said at least 14 civilians, including seven children and a baby, were killed when Syrian jets bombed a town in the central Syrian province of Homs. Russian Federation also wants to foster political talks that could preserve the Syrian state and allow Moscow to protect its interests in the region.

Flounders: Well of course Iran has every right to be and has to be involved in any discussion, peace agreement accord on Syria but the USA has made every effort to exclude Iran both in 2012 and in 2014 exerting great pressure to keep Iran out of any kind of settlement. “Our partners have a few obsession with the figure of the Syrian president, but we reaffirmed our position”, Lavrov said. The US has been pushing for a political transition away from Assad. Russian Federation is keen to bring Iran into the talks, but Saudi Arabia is opposed.

“The aim of the USA is to get rid of Assad, probably that is so, our aim is to defeat terrorism, to battle terror, and to help President Assad claim victory over terror”, Putin said Thursday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.