MOSCOW — Russia on Thursday strongly urged the United States and its allies to engage the Syrian government as a “partner” in the fight against the Islamic State group, and offered to share any information about its military supplies to Damascus with Washington.
New satellite imagery, meanwhile, showed the recent arrival of Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and other military equipment at an air base in Syria’s coastal Latakia province, confirming reports by U.S., Israeli and other officials of a military buildup.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking after talks with his Turkish counterpart in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, said the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq should coordinate its action with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in conformity with international law.
“There is no reason to evade cooperation with the Syrian leadership, which confronts that terror threat,” Lavrov said. He added that “the Syrian president commands the most capable ground force fighting terrorism.”
“Rejecting such a possibility, ignoring the capability of the Syrian army as a partner and ally in the fight against the IS means sacrificing security of the entire region for political or geopolitical intentions and calculations,” he said.
Washington, which sees Assad as the cause of the Syrian crisis, has been concerned by an ongoing Russian military buildup in Syria and warned Moscow that it could further destabilize the situation. The U.S. said that Russia has ferried equipment, supplies and military personnel to Syria with the apparent goal of setting up an air base near the coastal town of Latakia., a stronghold of Assad.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke with Lavrov three times this month to discuss the Russian action, said Lavrov offered Tuesday to have military-to-military talks and meetings on the situation in Syria. Kerry suggested that he favored such consultations, noting that the U.S. wants a clear picture of Russia’s intentions.
Satellite images confirmed a buildup in Latakia. They show six main battle tanks, 26 armored personnel carriers, and recently deployed helicopters and artillery battery guns.
