The United States and Russia agreed Friday on new steps they said could make a difference in Syria’s relentless war, hinting at an improbable military partnership that has been the subject of intense negotiation, AP reported.
Underscoring the extreme fragility of their effort, neither of the country’s top diplomats spelled out what form the new steps would take.
“The results will not be tomorrow or the next day,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, after they had met for more than 10 hours in a Russian government villa in Moscow.
Both sides stressed that closer cooperation between the U.S. and Russia was critical to ending a conflict that has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to a global migration crisis and spawned the international expansion of ISIS.
Speaking alongside Lavrov, Kerry told reporters that if the steps are implemented “in good faith,” they could “help restore the cessation of hostilities, significantly reduce the violence and help create the space for a negotiated and credible political transition.”
The United States was touting a proposal for closer US-Russian military cooperation in Syria against Al-Qaeda and Daesh fighters, but Russia has been cool to the idea, Arab News reported.
Similarly cryptic, Lavrov spoke of “increased efficiency” in U.S.-Russian efforts.
An eight-page proposal, which The Washington Post published on its website, included talk of intelligence and targeting sharing, and even joint bombing operations. It is a pact Moscow long had wanted, but the Obama administration resisted. And much of Washington is wary about working too closely with Russia.
Russia would get what it has wanted since intervening in Syria on Assad’s behalf last September: leadership of an international anti-terrorism alliance.
Whereas Kerry decried the Assad regime’s bombing of moderate opposition forces and civilian targets, Lavrov focused his attention elsewhere.
The Obama administration has few alternatives to working with Russia, AP added.
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