US airstrikes in Syria are ineffective as long as Washington fails to coordinate its actions with those battling terrorists on the ground, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said, adding that Damascus fully supports the idea of a coalition genuinely committed to the cause.
The international community could have prevented much of the bloodshed in Syria by moving beyond empty declarations and sincerely respecting the obligations to fight terrorism, Walid Muallem said, RT reported.
“We want to ask the international community…what have you done to fulfill the UN Security Council resolutions adopted in accordance with Chapter 7 [of the UN Charter]?” Muallem said. “Did neighboring countries implement the Security Council resolutions on fighting terrorism? Not a single one.”
Russia has long insisted on the creation of an international anti-terrorist coalition that would coordinate its efforts with the Syrian Army battling the radical forces on the ground. Muallem says Damascus fully supports such an initiative.
“We declare that we are ready to coordinate our actions with any country in the world, which sincerely wished to fight terrorism in practice,” Muallem stated, adding that scrapping any support to terrorist groups would be essential proof of sincerity.
“The US carries out airstrikes, but do not report their results, and the results are almost imperceptible,” Muallem stated.
In order for those strikes to have any real effect, Muallem believes that they must be coordinated with the Syrian Army, which is the only force in the country which can fight terrorist organizations Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front on the ground.
Truce in Four Towns
A new temporary truce has begun between government and opposition forces in four Syrian towns, a group that monitors the Syrian conflict has reported.
Sunday’s ceasefire began in the militant-held towns of Zabadani and Madaya outside the capital, Damascus, and the government-held villages of Fouaa and Kafraya in the northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Last month, two truces in the four towns did not hold. It is not clear how long the new truce will last or who brokered it.
The UK-based observatory said that hours before the start of the truce, a coalition of militants led by Al-Nusra Front seized parts of Fouaa after fierce fighting against government forces.
At least 74 militants and 40 Syrian fighters have been killed in the area since militants on Wednesday launched a large-scale attack on Fouaa and Kafraya.
Netanyahu Meets Putin
As reports of increased Russian military assistance to Syria, Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow Monday to seek reassurance from President Vladimir Putin.
With fighter planes part of the rapid Russian buildup, Israel is worried about the threat of fire accidentally being traded with Russian forces.
A former strategic adviser to Netanyahu said the Israeli leader would try to work out ground rules with Putin about avoiding such clashes.
“It could come down to Israel and Russia agreeing to limit themselves to defined areas of operation in Syria, or even that they fly at daytime and we fly at night,” said the ex-adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Israel also fears that the top-of-the-line Russian military hardware may reach also to Hezbollah.
Sources close to Netanyahu said he would present Israeli intelligence accounts of past transfers of arms, some of them Russian-supplied, to Hezbollah, and seek reassurances Moscow would maintain control of its latest reinforcements.
