Moscow vows no let-up in Syria
Obama asks agencies to draw up options for US response
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Kremlin vowed on Thursday to press on with its assault in Syria, while US officials searched for a tougher response to Russia’s decision to ignore the peace process and seek military victory on behalf of President Bashar Assad.
Moscow and Damascus launched an assault to recapture the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this month, abandoning a cease-fire a week after it took effect, to embark on what could be the biggest battle of the nearly six-year war.
Rebel fighters have launched their own advance in the countryside near the central city of Hama, where they said they made gains on Thursday.
The United States and European Union accuse Russia of torpedoing diplomacy to pursue victory in Aleppo, and say Moscow and Damascus are guilty of war crimes for targeting civilians, hospitals and aid workers to break the will of 250,000 people living under siege inside Syria’s largest city.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called the air strikes in Aleppo a “massacre” and said European governments were considering their response. Russia and the Syrian government say they are targeting only gunmen.
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers that President Barack Obama had asked staff to look at how Washington might respond.
“The president has asked all of the agencies to put forward options, some familiar, some new, that we are very actively reviewing,” Blinken said. “When we are able to work through these in the days ahead we’ll have an opportunity to come back and talk about them in detail.”
Secretary of State John Kerry, who personally negotiated the failed truce in talks with Russia despite skepticism from senior US officials, has said Washington could walk away from diplomacy unless the fighting stops.
He has called for a halt to flights, a step rejected by Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would “continue the operation of its air force in support of the anti-terrorist activity of Syria’s armed forces.”
Peskov said Washington was to blame for the fighting, by failing to meet an obligation to separate “moderate” rebel fighters from those he called terrorists.
“In general, we express regret at the rather non-constructive nature of the rhetoric voiced by Washington in the past days.”
US officials said they were considering tougher responses to the Russian-backed Syrian government assault, including military options, although they have described the range of possible responses as limited and say risky measures – such as air strikes on Syrian targets, or sending US jets to escort aid – are unlikely.
Recapturing Aleppo would be the biggest victory of the war for Syrian government forces, and a potential turning point in a conflict that until now most outside countries have said would never be won by force.
The multi-sided civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, made half the Syrian population homeless, and allowed much of the east of the country to fall into the hands of Islamic State jihadists who are enemies of all other sides.
Aleppo has been divided into government and opposition sectors for four years, and its rebel zone is now the only major urban area still in the hands of anti-Assad fighters supported by the West and Arab states. The government laid siege to it in July, cutting off those trapped inside from food and medicine.
The last week of bombing has killed hundreds of people and wounded many hundreds more, and left no way to bring in medical supplies. There are only around 30 doctors inside the besieged zone, and the two biggest hospitals were knocked out of service by air strikes or shelling on Wednesday.
Washington is bombing Islamic State in the east but has avoided direct participation in the civil war in the rest of the country, leaving the field open to Russia, which joined the war a year ago and tipped the conflict in favor of its ally Assad.
Relations between Moscow and Washington are already at their worst since the Cold War, with the US and EU having imposed economic sanctions on Russia for annexation of territory from Ukraine and support for separatists there.
Obama administration officials have begun considering responses, including military options, US officials said. The new discussions have yet to produce any recommendations to Obama.