Amid Russia’s escalating military activities in Syria, the White House has warned it not to interfere in the United States-led international efforts to destroy the Islamic State (IS) in the strife-torn region.
“The President [Barack Obama] has made quite clear that Russia should not be interfering with the 65-member international coalition that is seeking to degrade and ultimately destroy the IS. We’ve made that quite clear,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Tuesday.
There has been at least one preliminary conversation between the U.S. and Russian military officials to try to de-conflict those military activities, he said.
“Strikes where IS forces are few”
Mr. Earnest said many of the Russian military air-strikes had been carried out in areas where there were fewer IS forces, and they were carrying out those military activities despite the fact that they say that they were focused on the IS.
“Russians acknowledge that the situation will only be resolved when there’s a political transition inside of Syria, and yet, their actions are geared specifically at propping up a leader who has lost legitimacy to lead that country for a variety of reasons,” Mr. Earnest said.
‘Assad has lost moral authority’
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had lost the moral authority to lead his country and also the support of 80 per cent of the population, he claimed.
The current Russian strategy of supporting the Assad regime and also hitting out at his opponents, he said, were likely to result in Russia becoming more isolated and not accomplishing its stated goals, and antagonising, if not outright angering, a significant Muslim population inside of Syria and a significant Muslim population inside of Russia.
‘It will get diplomatic demarche’
“So the significant negative consequences that Russia is facing right now as a result of their actions far outweigh any sort of diplomatic demarche that Russia could receive from the rest of the international community,” he said.
The U.S., he said, would continue to stay focused on its strategy, to degrade and ultimately destroy the IS.
“We are implementing that strategy. In recent weeks, we have made some progress in terms of taking some IS leaders off the battlefield. We’re going to continue to implement that strategy in a way that we think serves our interests.”
Getting sucked into a quagmire
“But there is also no denying that what Russia is doing is further immersing themselves in a sectarian conflict that could ultimately lead to them being sucked into a quagmire in Syria,” he added.
On Afghanistan, Mr. Earnest said Mr. Obama’s policy on the presence of particular troops would be driven by the situation on the ground and long-term strategy in this war-torn country.
“What the future presence of U.S. troops looks like and what future strategy will be in Afghanistan is something that will be determined by a variety of things,” he said, adding that Mr. Obama would certainly take into account the recommendations that were provided by Gen. John Campbell, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“The President’s decision about forward-looking presence will also take into account the relative strength or weakness of the Afghan security forces and the risks that U.S. military personnel are facing in Afghanistan,” he said.
