Russia And U.S. Relations Complicated By Putin Airstrikes On ISIS In Syria
Russia and U.S. relations have been further complicated by the announcement that Vladimir Putin began airstrikes in Syria, targeting ISIS on Wednesday. The Obama administration got notice through their embassy in Baghdad only an hour before the bombing began.
According to a report from Fox News, U.S. Pentagon officials confirmed the Russian airstrikes on fighters near Homs — located about 60-miles east of a Russian naval facility in Tartus — were carried out by a couple of Russian bombers.
The source indicates there is no ISIS presence in those areas, and a senior U.S. defense official said the planes are hitting areas where Free Syrian Army and other anti-Assad groups are located. The significance of the Russian targets in the area was not lost on the U.S. administration.
The anonymous U.S. senior official said President Obama and Vladimir Putin agreed on rules that would “deconflict” military operations in the area. However, with the actions on Wednesday, Russia effectively “bypassed that process.”
“That’s not how responsible nations do business,” the source said.
In a development first reported by the cable news network, Pentagon officials ignored a formal request from Russia — being called a demarche — to clear airspace in the areas where the airstrikes are now taking place in Northern Syria, where Putin wanted to hit ISIS in support of Assad.
According to the report, the request was made in a heated exchange that took place at the American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, where a Russian three-star general and U.S. officials were meeting.
“If you have forces in the area, we request they leave,” the Russian general allegedly requested and used the word, “please.”
The U.S. did not honor the request and said it has not and will not change their operations against ISIS in Syria, the official said.
Russia launched the airstrikes in Syria Wednesday, following a unanimous vote to give Putin permission to deploy the nation’s armed forces from the Russian Parliament’s Upper House. In a speech on the same day, Putin said the Russian airstrikes were meant to help with an offensive against ISIS by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who reportedly asked for Russia’s involvement.
Putin promised this was not a long-term involvement, and Russia was “not going to plunge into this conflict head-on,” according to BuzzFeed. The Russian President also said the military’s presence would last until Assad’s offensive ended.
Trying to reassert himself as a leader in the years-long conflict in Syria, Putin announced that he expected Assad to enter into talks with opposition groups, the AP reported. However, despite U.S. reports that the areas which are being targeted with the Russian airstrikes don’t have ISIS fighters present, Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters the warplanes were indeed targeting ISIS strongholds, according to the Russian outlet TASS Agency.
“…Russia has started an operation to deal pinpoint strikes against ground targets of the IS terrorist group in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
U.S. State Department Spokesman, John Kirby, said in a statement Wednesday morning the Russian airstrikes won’t affect the U.S. led coalition plans in the region, and he claimed Russia didn’t use official channels to give the U.S. a heads-up about the airstrikes.
“…a Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed U.S. Embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-ISIS missions over Syria. He further requested U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions.”
“The U.S.-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned.”
Experts feel Russia and U.S. relations have suffered a set back, which was clear by the awkward photo-op between President Obama and Vladimir Putin at their recent meeting in the U.N. during the General Assembly meeting. This news comes despite assurances that meetings behind closed doors have been “constructive.”
Do you think Russia and U.S. relations have suffered in recent years?
[Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]
