Carter: U.S. won’t cooperate with Russia in Syria, for now,
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in his strongest message to date, said Wednesday the U.S.-led coalition will not agree to cooperate with Russia in the fight against the Islamic State and no collaboration is possible as long as Moscow continues to strike other targets.
He said the U.S. will limit its discussions with Russia to basic, technical talks about efforts to ensure that flights over Syria are conducted safely and, “That’s it.”
“Despite what the Russians say, we have not agreed to cooperate with Russia, so long as they continue to pursue mistaken strategy and hit these targets,” Carter told reporters during a news conference in Rome with Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti.
Carter’s comments came a day after Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov complained about the narrow scope of the U.S. talks and said the Russians want broad discussions on international cooperation between Russia and the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State.
The United States, Carter said, is not prepared to cooperate with a strategy of Russia’s that is “tragically flawed.”
“They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL,” Carter said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. “We believe that is a fundamental mistake.”
The U.S. wanted make its intentions very clear in the wake of the Russian remarks, said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the situation publicly.
Carter said he is concerned about the Syrian ground offensive that began Wednesday backed by Russian air power. Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, has hit Western-backed rebels fighting Assad. The U.S. maintains that the only route to peace in Syria is to remove Assad from power.
The U.S. was still waiting Wednesday for a formal response from Russia on a draft document laying out proposed technical safety procedures for the aircraft flights, the defense official said. The U.S. will not set up a meeting with the Russians until that occurs, the official said.