USA insists no cooperation with Russian Federation on Syria

Activists say Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes are battling insurgents in central Syria.

State television said government forces had targeted militants at the Sha’ar gas field and village of Qaryatain in Homs province, as well as Atshan, a town to the east of Russian air force bombardments in Hama province on Wednesday. Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman says it is “the most intense fighting in months”. But the USA and France say at least a few of the strikes appear to have hit Western-backed rebel factions fighting government troops, with the real goal of protecting Assad.

Russian Federation says the airstrikes it began last week are directed against the Islamic State group, as well as al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliates.

Mr Putin and his defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the strikes targeted Islamic State militants, with the president stressing the need for cooperation with a US-led coalition.

The Observatory, which has a network of activists in Syria, said the main launching point for government forces was the town of Morek on a highway linking Damascus and Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and its former commercial hub.

On Monday, Dujarric said the situation over Syrian airspace was “fraught with danger and very delicate” due to the presence of multiple countries operating over Syria. Russian officials have said the Nusra Front is among the groups it is targeting.

The United States, Carter said, is not prepared to cooperate with a strategy of Russia’s that is “tragically flawed”.

“I have said before that we believed that Russian Federation has the wrong strategy – they continue to hit targets that are not ISIL”.

Russian Federation on Tuesday informed the United States that Moscow is willing to continue talks to ensure that the two countries’ aircraft don’t interfere with each other, USA officials said.

The U.S.-led coalition has been routinely conducting airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria.

The Russians have publicly stated a willingness to work with the U.S.-led coalition to target the Islamic State, but have been rejected.

Carter had called on Russian leaders to contact the Pentagon immediately to discuss Moscow’s military activities in Syria, reflecting urgent concerns about Russian aircraft violating Turkish airspace.

The missiles were identified by Russian media as the new Kalibr-NK, a precision-guided weapon that, like U.S.-made Tomahawks, allows navies to safely deliver strikes from a long distance off enemy shores. He could not provide details, including how many times this has happened. He urged Moscow to respect Turkey’s airspace, saying the country would not “make any concessions” on its border security. Turkey scrambled F-16s in response and also summoned the Russian ambassador to lodge protests.

Vasilyeva reported from Moscow.