U.S. considering Russian proposal on Syria talks
Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday the United States is considering a Russian proposal to hold military talks about Syria, amid concerns that Russia is building its presence in that country.
The Russians proposed a military-to-military conversation on how to prevent a potential conflict with the U.S.-led coalition conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria and to provide “a complete and clear understanding ” of Russian intentions there, Kerry said at a State Department news conference.
Kerry, who said he favors such talks, had a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday and urged Russia to join the U.S. coalition fighting the Islamic State.
The Pentagon said Russia appears to be building a base in Syria, where it has sent dozens of military transport planes in recent days, loaded with armored personnel carriers, tanks, antiaircraft weapons and personnel.
Russia plans to fight Islamic State militants in conjunction with Syria’s military, which it has backed since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011. The United States favors removing Syrian President Bashar Assad from power because his troops have killed thousands of people and forced millions to flee, causing the migrant crisis in Europe.
U.S. policy has been that Assad’s brutal execution of the war against rebels, who include U.S.backed opponents and radical groups, has made his rule incompatible with bringing peace through diplomacy in Syria.
The Russian proposal comes as the U.S. effort to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State has gotten nowhere, according to testimony Wednesday by Defense Undersecretary Christine Wormuth before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
She said the nine-month effort has resulted in four or five U.S.trained people on the battlefield, and only a few dozen more are on the way.
“There have been setbacks along the way,” Wormuth said, but she insisted “progress has been slow but steady.”