Russian Federation strike won’t alter coalition mission

Russian Federation began airstrikes in Syria allegedly against “terrorists” today, but an unnamed US official told Reuters that the planes do not appear to be targeting areas held by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). “They are not stupid”, the official said.

Not long after asking for a “military-to-military de-confliction” with the US, Russian warplanes attacked Syrian resistance fighters on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said airstrikes near the city of Homs indicate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true intentions are to support Syrian President Bashar Assad. Kerry said ISIS can not be defeated as long as Assad is in power.

‘No Russian boots on the ground’.

“We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conflict”, he said.

Defence Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday directed his staff to “open lines of communication with Russia” to de-conflict air operations in Syria, according to Pentagon press secretary. “Russian air forces will help Assad’s army while it’s on the offensive mode”.

However, there is already a few indication that Russian forces are on the ground fighting for Assad’s survival.

“For Russian forces to operate there legitimately… a law was needed”. USA officials believe there are under 1,000 Russians joined ISIS. The goal of the discussions is “to ensure the safety of coalition air crews”, he said.

The French minister said another condition for cooperating with other states is having “absolute clarity” about who the countries are fighting.

Just ISIS or something more?

“But we agreed on a few steps, which we will undertake very soon”.

Russian aircraft have in recent weeks been deployed to an airfield in the government stronghold of Latakia, while ships from the Black Sea Fleet have ferried men and hardware to a small Russian naval station at Tartus, a few 90 kilometers to the south.

Russian air forces carried out air strikes Wednesday in the central Syrian provinces of Homs and Hama, targetting what Moscow said were IS positions.

However, Yuval Weber, an assistant professor of worldwide relations at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics told The Moscow Times on Wednesday that by declaring limited involvement in Assad’s war, Russian Federation was repeating US mistakes early in the Vietnam war.

The official described the action as a “pause” in the effort until a way ahead is decided.

The Church’s head, Patriarch Kirill, said a “responsible decision” had been taken “for the protection of the Syrian people from calamities inflicted by the iniquity of terrorists”, according to a statement published on the Church’s website.

The strikes follow a tense meeting between Mr Putin and USA president Barack Obama in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday.