US to Russia: Let’s Talk… About Syria?

 

On Friday Secretary of State  John Kerry announced the United States’ willingness to engage in military-to-military talks with Russia regarding Syria. Shortly after Mr. Kerry’s announcement, US Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei K. Shoigu held their first talks. According to BBC News, their conversation was concentrated on “perspectives (that) overlap and areas of divergence”. These talks are an attempt to find a common ground, as it is widely known that the two sides have frequently disagreed on the Syrian crises. The Pentagon statement noted that among the main topics of discussion are “mechanisms for deconfliction” in Syria, and described the conversation as “constructive”.

Officials certainly had a lot to talk about, since it is reported that “the US and a number of its allies are flying strike missions into Syrian air space and they do not want to have any misunderstandings with Russia’s forces there” (BBC News). Russia’s relationship with the Syrian government is a matter of a growing concern in Washington. It is reported that that Russia has been stepping up support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime recently.On September 5, Kerry warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov that further expansion of Russia’s military support will potentially help escalate the conflict and might even “risk confrontation” (with the US). Thus, both sides place a great importance on the military-to-military talks and hope they will result into a diplomatic step forward. emphasizing that they could not have come at a better time. Furthermore, (as The Washington Post reports) Kerry emphasized that

“the migration levels, the continued destruction, the danger of potential augmentation by any unilateral moves really puts a high premium on diplomacy at this moment”.

Considering the weak diplomatic relations between the US and Russia, these talks are an optimistic signal. Though they disagree on the ways to resolve the situation in Syria, at the very least they were finally able to communicate their concerns to each other and discuss all the options for the conflict resolution. For now both countries should set aside their own interests and focus on resolving the crisis. Their objective should be the same: to save Syria and restore the homeland to millions who have been displaced. Whether the recent talks will result into something promising for the future of Syria or not, we will see soon see as each side prepares for action.

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