Agencies/Washington
US Secretary of State John Kerry raised US concerns about reports of “an imminent enhanced Russian military build-up” in Syria, in a phone call yesterday to his counterpart in Moscow, the US State Department said.
“The secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL coalition operating in Syria,” the State Department said.
Kerry spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, discussing with him “US concerns about reports suggesting an imminent enhanced Russian build-up there”, the department said.
“The two agreed that discussions on the Syrian conflict would continue in New York later this month,” it said.
The New York Times reported that Russia has sent a military advance team to Syria and was taking other steps that Washington fears may signal plans to vastly expand its military support for President Bashar al-Assad.
The Times said the moves included the recent transport of prefabricated housing units for hundreds of people to a Syrian airfield and the delivery of a portable air traffic control station there.
The Times reported that some US officials said the temporary housing suggested that Russia could deploy as many as 1,000 advisers or other military personnel to the airfield that serves Latakia, Syria’s principal port city.
An uprising against four decades of Assad family rule broke out in 2011 and turned into a full-blown civil war in which Islamist militants have become the strongest element fighting Damascus.
Lavrov last month said the United States should co-operate with Assad, a long-time ally of Moscow, to fight Islamic State forces who have seized swathes of northern and eastern Syria.
The United States and Russia have been at loggerheads over the civil war in Syria, where Russia has backed Assad while the United States wants a political transition to end his rule.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was asked on Friday whether Russia was taking part in military operations against IS in Syria.
“We are looking at various options but so far what you are talking about is not on the agenda,” he said. “To say we’re ready to do this today—so far it’s premature to talk about this. But we are already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons,” RIA Novosti state news agency quoted Putin as saying.
Russia’s foreign ministry said yesterday’s telephone call was made at Kerry’s initiative.
It made no mention of US concerns about a possible Russian military build-up, but said the two discussed “different aspects of the situation in Syria and its environs, as well as the objectives of the fight against IS and other terrorist groups”.
l France is considering joining US-led coalition air strikes against IS in Syria, a reversal of its current position, Le Monde daily said yesterday.
Neither the French presidency nor the foreign or defence ministries would comment on the report, with officials saying only that President Francois Hollande may address the question during his twice-yearly press conference tomorrow.
France currently only participates in missions against IS in Iraq following that country’s request for international help against the militants. Paris has refused to join coalition strikes in Syria on fears that foreign intervention may inadvertently help Assad hold on to power.
But Le Monde said France is feeling compelled by events to reconsider its position and could begin reconnaissance flights over the war-torn country.
“Hollande is considering striking IS in Syria,” it headlined.
“The accelerating exodus of Syrian (refugees), the failure of the coalition to push IS back to Iraq and the possible reinforcement of Russian military presence (in Syria) are challenging the French position,” Le Monde said.
A French official said yesterday it would not involve joining the US-led coalition.
“Our line hasn’t changed, and there’s no question of joining the coalition in Syria,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Other officials said Paris may renounce its pledge not to intervene militarily in Syria “for reasons of national security” saying it would be done “completely independently”.
This year, France has been targeted by several attacks linked to IS militants.
At the same time, officials said, France’s priority remains finding a credible political alternative to Syria’s current regime.
A boy rides a motorcycle through a street in Old Aleppo yesterday.
