Contents tagged with Syrian Conflict

  • Russian State Duma: The Russian military will remain in Syria indefinitely

    The Russian military will continue to support the Syrian government in their fight against terrorism for as long they are needed. According to Interfax, this was said on Tuesday by the head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Vladimir Komoedov. He went on to say that “we will remain in Syria for as long as is necessary”.

    According to Komoedov, the Russian Navy has always been present in Syria as “there was a small base for the ships in the Mediterranean” in the port of Tartus. He added that “ …

  • Obama: We must test Russia to see if we can cooperate in Syria

    At a press conference at the Pentagon, US President Barack Obama said he does not trust Russia to cooperate militarily with the US to bring peace in Syria, but the proposition must be tested.

    The US State Department recently announced that it is pursuing military cooperation with Russia to end the war in Syria, a proposal over which some defense officials have expressed concern.

    When asked why he trusts Moscow to cooperate, Obama said "I am not confident that we can trust the Russians and …

  • Russian helicopter shot down in Syria

    Five Russian servicemen were killed in Syria when the military transport helicopter in which they were flying was shot down by rebels, TV Dozhd reported.

    The Mi-8 helicopter was carrying three crew members and two officers.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the helicopter was returning from delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged city of Aleppo.

    Last month, two Russian pilots, Colonel Ryafagat Habibullin and Lt. Eugene Dolgin, were killed when their Mi-35 helicopter was shot …

  • Russia denies allegation that it is preparing an assault on Aleppo

    The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that it is not attempting to carry out an assault on Aleppo under the guise of a humanitarian operation, RBC reported.

    Washington has suggested that Russia could be preparing an assault on Aleppo by creating three humanitarian passages for civilians wanting to flee rebel-held eastern districts of the city.

    "It has the risk, if it is a ruse, of completely breaking apart the level of cooperation," US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

    "On the …

  • Ash Carter: Cooperation with Russia in Syria will not create a military partnership

    The agreements made between the US and Russia with regard to Syria does not signal the beginning of a deepening of their military partnership. This was said by the US Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter.

    On the 26th of July, AFP reported Carter as saying that discussions on military cooperation in Syria are only being carried out to “coerce Russians to make the right steps”, specifically to support a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

    However, according to Carter, Russia is “still …

  • Kerry: Progress is being made with Russia on Syria despite Defense Department's doubts

    US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Laos, said that progress is being made in pursuing closer cooperation between the two countries in Syria, the Washington Post reported.

    Kerry hopes that Washington and Moscow will share intelligence to coordinate attacks against extremist groups in Syria. The Secretary of State also seeks to persuade the Kremlin to convince the Syrian government to focus its attacks on groups such as the …

  • Special Presidential Envoy: The US will not include Russia in the coalition against ISIS

    The Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Brett H. McGurk, denied the possibility that the Russian Federation would be included in the coalition, Sky News Arabia news agency reported.

    "Washington doesn't trust Moscow, which supports the Syrian government, both materially and in military fields," the agency reported, quoting President Obama’s representative.

    According to McGurk, Russia and the United States coordinate actions in carrying out strikes against the …

  • Russian MoD: The West is to blame for the strikes against the US garrison in Syria

    Russian Defense Ministry blamed the U.S. anti-terrorist coalition for the air strikes on the Anglo-American base in Syria. The Russian military is not well informed about the location of the bases of the Syrian opposition forces, the speaker of the Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said on Saturday, July 23, 2016.

    He said that Russia has repeatedly asked for the coordinates of the bases used by Syrian opposition forces. According to Konashenkov, a "joint action" against the extremists will …

  • Moscow confirms Russian strike on US garrison in Syria

    The Russians cited the cause of the incident as the "refusal of the U.S. to provide information about their actions."

    Russia admitted bombing the base used by American and British elite troops in Syria last month as reported by Interfax, citing a military-diplomatic source in Moscow. 

    "The Russians have already given an explanation for this incident. This was the topic of a video conference between the U.S. and Russia. There is no reason to repeat the discussion," the source from the agency …

  • Lavrov: The US again demanded the resignation of Bashar al-Assad

    The US demands Assad’s resignation before unification in the fight against terrorism; Russia would hold free elections after unification.

    As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported, providing new details about the talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the US is again demanding the resignation of President of Syria Bashar al-Assad, Interfax reports.

    “John Kerry recently came. They [the USA] say that we can unite in the struggle against terrorism, but first we have to agree that …