John Kerry: Putin’s Syria involvement could be opportunity for U.S.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Sept. 28. (Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA-Novosti/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Secretary of State John Kerry has dismissed the notion that Russia’s presence in Syria would somehow box the United States into a corner — in fact, he thinks it could be empowering.
Kerry thinks the brutal Syrian civil war will not come to an end unless Syrian President Bashar Assad is out of office and Sunni Muslims are at the table for peace talks.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Kerry suggested that Moscow could find itself in the cross hairs of Sunni terrorists if Russian President Vladimir Putin backs Assad.
“If he’s going to side with Assad and with Iran and Hezbollah, he’s going to have a very serious problem with the Sunni countries in the region,” Kerry said to the network’s global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott. “That means he … could very well become a target for those Sunni jihadists.”
The former U.S. senator added that this is a chance for the U.S. to force the question of how the Syrian war, which started in March 2011, can finally come to an end.
“The bottom line is you cannot resolve it without including the Sunni in a political solution, a political agreement ultimately,” Kerry said. “And that will mean that you’re going to have to have some kind of transition, some kind of timing. Because as long as Assad is there, you simply can’t make peace. Period.”
The Russian minister of defense announced Wednesday that his country’s military jets have launched their first targeted airstrikes against the Islamic State.
Earlier in the day, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament unanimously approved Putin’s request to use military forces abroad. He said the Russian Air Force would support Assad’s army without plunging wholesale into the conflict.
Hours after the attack, Kerry told the United Nations Security Council that the U.S. will not oppose the Russian airstrikes if they are “genuinely” intended to defeat the terrorist organization.
“If Russia’s recent actions and those now ongoing reflect a genuine commitment to defeat that organization then we are prepared to welcome those efforts,” he said.
But the United States would have “grave concerns” if Russia starts attacking groups other than Islamic State or al-Qaida, Kerry said.
Similarly, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday that the recent developments call into question Russia’s strategy.
“We are seeing the Russians ramp up their support for President Assad,” he said. “They’ve been supporting him for quite some time. It’s clear they’ve made a significant military investment now in further propping him up.”
Kerry reiterated that Assad should no longer rule the war-torn country and that the U.S.’s fight against IS should not be confused with support for his regime.
In the CNN interview, Kerry said there must be an “orderly transition” from Assad to legitimate leadership over time. This could, he suggested, help avoid an implosion or vacuum that would lead to further bloodshed and preserve what’s left of Syria’s institutions so there is “something there to build on” after the war.
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