US says too soon for Syrian opposition to attend talks in Russia

Yet, with Russian Federation and Iran resisting Western and Saudi Arabian pressure to force Assad away from power, it looks as hard as ever for the major players in the region to bridge their differences in a short time. They are supporting him with weapons, money and fighters from Iran, from Hezbollah in Lebanon and from Russian Federation.

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Maj Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari, acknowledged that Russian Federation “may not care if Assad stays in power as we do”. “We know that Russia’s primary intent is to preserve the regime”.

“They have a lot of people outside the wire”, An unnamed defense official said, stating Russian Federation now had four operational air bases in the country.

President Assad won a new seven-year term by a landslide last year in a vote his critics condemned as a sham.

He also said the U.N.is ready to host talks between the Syrian government and the opposition “immediately”.

So now Russian Federation sends in its air force, cruise missiles, and a few number of ground troops to bomb ISIS and the nitwit rebels we tried to support.

“We will be curbing attempts by Western media to distort Russia’s approach towards a settlement in Syria by juggling with quotes”, she said.

Airforce planes hit a total of 263 targets in two days, the ministry said.

In a sign of the sensitivities, the Pentagon said calling Tuesday’s procedure a military “exercise” was incorrect, adding that had been only a “test”.

In recent weeks, diplomatic efforts have been stepped up to resolve the conflict, which has left more than 250,000 dead and forced millions from their homes since March 2011.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it was premature for Moscow to invite Syrian opposition to talks in Russian Federation.

Moscow now states it has arrange “working coordination groups” with “opposition representatives” aimed toward bolstering the fight against IS.

However, Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad said during a visit to Tehran Tuesday that there was nothing “official” about a meeting between the Syrian opposition and the government and rejected any discussion about a political transition in Syria.

Moscow has been bombing targets in Syria since September 30, and said Tuesday it has hit 2,084 targets in 1,631 sorties, including 52 training camps and 287 command posts, causing “significant losses to the terrorists” and undermining their morale. “It is the beginning of a political process”, said Irina Zvyagelskaya, a Middle East analyst at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also told reporters on Tuesday that Lavrov and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will meet in Moscow on Wednesday over the conflict plaguing Syria.

The participants – who did not include any representatives of the Syrian government or its opponents – agreed to ask the United Nations to broker a peace deal between the regime and opposition to clear the way for a new constitution and elections.

Contrary to what Moscow would like the world to believe, Russian airstrikes in Syria are not only not hurting the Islamic State (ISIS) but are actually helping the jihadist group, a leading British defence analyst disclosed.