Russia Says U.S. Supporting 'Terrorism' in Syria

Source: Newsweek Magazine




RUSSIA CLAIMS U.S. SUPPORTING 'TERRORISM' INSTEAD OF FIGHTING ISIS IN SYRIA

BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 11/22/17 AT 10:59 AM

Russia has accused the U.S. of hampering efforts to defeat ultraconservative Sunni Muslim militant groups in Syria, where the jihadis were on the verge of total defeat in the east and faced renewed government offensives in the north and south.

While the U.S. and Russia have launched separate campaigns against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow had "established rather stable cooperation with Washington on Syria." He maintained, however, that "big problems" remained over what he said was the White House's failure to condemn "terrorists and extremists" still battling the armed forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Russia has supported and the U.S. has condemned as an illegitimate leader, accusing him of war crimes.

"There is information that the U.S. uses extremist groups, which have to be isolated and destroyed, for its own goals, promoting its agenda despite the claims that the U.S. is only working in Syria to eliminate terror groups," Lavrov said, according to the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.

Lavrov praised the resignation of Riyad Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister who defected in 2012 and joined the opposition's Saudi Arabia-backed Higher Negotiation Committee in December 2015. Hijab said Monday he would be stepping down without offering any reason, a move Lavrov said would empower peace talks, calling for the "retreating of radical opposition leaders to the background to help the Syria-based and foreign-based opposition unite on a constructive basis."

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/us-russia-accuse-one-another-helping-isis-final-days-loom-syria-719028