USA proposes increased military cooperation with Russian Federation

“It’s pretty obvious that their agenda is not 100 percent aligned with our own”, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State, told a small group of reporters in Baghdad on Thursday.

BEIRUT, Lebanon-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday he has never faced pressure from Russian Federation to step aside, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Moscow seeking to revive stalled peace efforts.

According to the AP, Kerry declined to comment on the leaked document and said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he will meet Thursday, would have “plenty of time to talk about it”.

According to The Associated Press, Russia has been a major ally of Assad while the United States, which backs rebels seeking to overthrow Assad, has called for him to leave power.

A new United States proposal to Russian Federation on cooperation in Syria includes the offer of a new joint military headquarters to coordinate armed attacks against extremist groups in the country. “If Moscow could get Washington to work directly with Russian and Syrian loyalist forces, that would, in turn, force Washington to recognize the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad”. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has landed at Vnukovo-2 government airport in Moscow. Prospects for such a deal are unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin who met Kerry in the Kremlin said, jokingly, that he was sorry that Kerry had to carry his hand luggage himself all the way long.

Under the U.S. proposals, the “Joint Implementation Group” would be based near Amman, Jordan.

As well as sharing intelligence and targeting information, it would “co-ordinate procedures to permit integrated operations”.

They would decide on a date to simultaneously begin strikes against Nusra Front targets and to stop all Syrian military air activities in designated areas, except for non-combat purposes and against areas where Nusra Front has acquired territory.

But many in the USA military are wary of working closely with the Russians, saying they do not trust Moscow to deliver on such promises. He said he and Putin are committed to defeating the IS and the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front, adding that USA intervention has not helped the country.

Russian Federation supports the vague idea of “transition”, but has never publicly spoken of Assad having to resign.

“Why does the US fight IS now?”

For that reason, the US has almost entirely avoided bombing Nusra targets in recent months.

“When you’re caught in crossfire somewhere, you can not tell who killed who… these are all allegations”, Assad said. “It’s not fighting them”, he said.

Fighting rages near Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. Humanitarian aid deliveries are sporadic and grossly insufficient.

The first attack on the camp killed at least 123 people and injured scores more, said two US intelligence officials.