US, Russia aiming for cooperation on Syria

DAMASCUS — The heightened tension between Moscow and Washington after last week’s US missile attack on a Syrian air base appears to be easing, according to analysts.

Relations between Russia and the US were strained by the April 7 strike against the Shayrat air base in central Syria, with Moscow subsequently suspending a flight safety agreement with Washington.

The deal ensured flight safety over Syria, where both Russian and US planes have been carrying airstrikes against the Islamic State group and other radical factions for years.

The US launched the April 7 strike in retaliation for a chemical attack allegedly launched by the Syrian air force against the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.

The Syrian government categorically denied the US accusation, which many observers said was hasty and couldn’t be verified in such a short time frame.

Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution sponsored by the US, the United Kingdom and France to hold the Syrian government responsible.

The frenzy over the chemical attack and the possibility of another US strike has since cooled, with observers saying the administration of President Bashar al-Assad was buoyed by the Russian veto.

The first sign of decreasing tension was US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Moscow this week.

Ahead of Tillerson’s arrival, the Kremlin announced that President Vladimir Putin would not meet with him.

However, Putin later changed his mind and after their meeting Russia reactivated the flight safety agreement.

Maher Ihsan, a Syrian political analyst, said Putin would not have met Tillerson if new understandings between Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, had not been hammered out earlier.

Shared understanding

Russia’s Interfax news agency on Thursday reported the two nations now have an understanding that similar US airstrikes on Syria should not be repeated.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem in Moscow on Thursday that the agreement was “concluded” during Tillerson’s visit to Moscow, the report said.

Ihsan also pointed to the latest interview of President Donald Trump, who said the US is not “insisting” on removing Assad from power, and peace in Syria is “not impossible” with Assad heading the government.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Ashaqar, another analyst, said Russia and the US might also have agreed to an inspection of the site of the alleged chemical attack and a deeper investigation of the incident.

They might also be taking steps to establish new negotiations aimed at solving the Syrian conflict, he said.