Russia, Jordan to coordinate militaries on Syria

It remains unclear whether they will be able to resolve their competing interests and goals in the country’s civil war. President Vladimir Putin hosted Assad in Moscow this week.

If Russia’s leaders are concerned about their ability to succeed in Syria, they aren’t showing it. They may have to rethink their approach, though, if they want to bring their intervention to a quick end.

“The administration’s a little bit in wait-and-see mode”, said CBS News Senior National Security Analyst Juan Zarate. I think that the Iranians are too important on the ground in Syria.

“I am convinced… that today’s meeting was constructive and productive and succeeded in surfacing a few ideas, which I am not going to share today, but which I hope have a possibility of ultimately changing the dynamic”.

At first, the week seemed like it might yield a few positive developments.

As the agreement reached its final stages of negotiation, a Russian fighter jet came within 1,500 feet of two American aircraft, the closest approach yet.

But the atmosphere appeared chilly, and there was scant hope for progress on resolving nearly five years of war, with the sides at loggerheads over the future of Mr Assad.

The visit continued a flurry of highly visible events which included Assad’s visit, a media tour to show off Russian air power at its base in Syria, and Friday’s meeting of foreign ministers from Russia, the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Vienna.

Assad praised Putin, saying, “If it were not for your actions and decisions, the terrorism that is spreading through the region now would have made even greater gains and spread to even wider territories”.

Second, Putin won’t give up Assad to entice the Sunni opposition to the negotiating table. Global forces have failed to stop the bloodshed in Syria for years.

Putin said Thursday that Assad had told him he is ready to talk with his political foes.

While Syria is set to dominate the Vienna talks, Lavrov and Kerry will also discuss the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence with representatives from the European Union and United Nations.

Mr. Lavrov was asked ahead of his meeting with Mr. Kerry on Friday if Moscow was open to a political transition in Damascus.

“There is only one thing – happens to be a person – that stands in the way of unified principles on which we agree”. It should be secular. In an interview in September, Syrian PYD leader Salih Muslim said in an interview that the overthrow of Assad would result in “disaster for everyone”, that, while he supported the removal of Assad from power, “we would not feel safe in our home so long as there is one Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ISIS] left alive”, and giving ISIS a power vacuum to fill would be “dangerous”.

After a four-hour session Thursday with Netanyahu, Kerry said he had a “cautious measure of optimism” that a solution could be found to defuse tensions. “Thats what we are working towards”.

Stephens added: “I would expect a military response by a large upscale of backing for rebel factions that are fighting against the regime, with both anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles”.

Activists reported that overnight airstrikes killed 11 militants from the Islamic State, but also at least seven civilians in the extremists’ stronghold of Raqqa in eastern Syria. He said Russian planes were striking weapons depots and facilities making preparations for attacks by rigging cars with bombs and making suicide belts of explosives.

Local residents and refugees were ecstatic about Russia’s military help, chanting “Thank you!” to a bus carrying Moscow-based journalists.