Washington eyes Moscow’s help over Syria: Report

The United States is trying to partner with Russia in Syria in the battle against militants there, says a new report.

According to the Washington Post report, the administration of US President Barack Obama has made a new offer to Moscow that would deepen military cooperation between the two countries against militants in Syria.

The US proposal was made Monday after weeks of negotiations, the report quoted an administration official as saying.

It lays out a US pledge to join forces with Russia in Syria on sharing targets and coordinating bombings against the al-Qaeda branch in the Arab country, al-Nusra Front.

The offer, which is said to have Obama’s backing and staunch support of US Secretary of State John Kerry, calls on the militaries of Russia and the United States to cooperate at an “unprecedented” level.

If agreed, the Russians will have to pressure the Syrian government to stop bombing militant groups that Washington sees as “moderate.”

The US would not give Russia the exact locations of these groups, but would specify geographic zones that would be safe for them.

Moscow has long insisted that the so-called moderate opposition groups in Syria should leave the areas held by Daesh and al-Nusra terrorists targeted in the Russian air campaign. Claiming it is unable to remove the opposition groups, Washington, however, had previously called on Moscow not to carry out airstrikes against the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front terrorist group.

The latest report said US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter opposed the plan, but was eventually made to accept the president’s decision.

Russia recently warned the US that Moscow’s patience was running out over Washington’s refusal to target Takfiri militants fighting against the Syrian government.

Earlier in June, the US secretary of state warned Russia that America’s patience on the issue of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future was running out. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook also said US military officials had “expressed strong concerns” about Russia’s airstrikes against US-backed militants, “which included forces that are participants in the cessation of hostilities in Syria." Russia has denied the US claim.

Syria is currently observing a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US, which entered into force on February 27. The truce, which was reached between the Syrian government and dozens of militant groups operating in the country, does not apply to the Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups.

However, renewed violence in some parts of Syria, particularly around Aleppo, has left the ceasefire in tatters in recent weeks and torpedoed peace talks on the conflict.

Syria has been the scene of a foreign-backed crisis since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people in total since March 2011.

The United Nations has stopped counting the death toll in Syria, citing widespread violence across the country as well as complexities in checking the credibility of the statistics provided by the government and other sources.

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