Progress in Russia-Syria truce despite army doubts, says Kerry
VIENTIANE (Laos): United States Secretary of State John Kerry said progress was being made with Russia on a potential military partnership that could strengthen a faltering truce in Syria, despite grave doubts expressed by the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Speaking yesterday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov here, Kerry made no promises of success, but said he hoped discussions with Russia could produce a tangible result in the next 10 days.
“My hope would be that next month, we would be in a position to tell you what we’re able to do with the hopes that it can make a difference to the lives of people in Syria and to the course of the war.”
His comments followed remarks from Defence Secretary Ash Carter on Monday, in which he said Kerry’s efforts with Russia had been complicated by the fact that Russia was focused on supporting the Syrian government, which he said had the effect of prolonging the civil war.
“We had hoped that they would promote a political solution and transition to put an end to the civil war, which is the beginning of all this violence in Syria, and then combat extremists rather than moderate opposition, which has to be part of that transition,” Carter said at a Pentagon news conference with General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “They’re a long way from doing that.”
When a reporter told Carter that he sounded unenthusiastic about the Kerry effort, Carter said:“No, I’m very enthusiastic about the idea of the Russians getting on board and doing the right thing. I think that would be a good thing if they did.”
Kerry said he appreciated Carter’s words and that his talks with Lavrov, as well as technical discussions at lower levels, would be continuing “to work through to details to make certain the doubts expressed by Carter or doubts expressed by (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin and the Russians are going to be addressed ahead of time”.
Kerry had been talking to Russian officials about a proposal in which the US would share intelligence and targeting information with the Russians.
In exchange, Moscow would use its influence with the Syrian regime to effectively ground the Syrian air force and promote a political solution to a civil war that has killed as many as a half a million people. AFP