Russia offers to reopen, broaden military talks

with the U.S. over Syria

Object 1

By Craig Whitlock and Brian Murphy-October 6

ROME Russia and the United States tentatively agreed Tuesday to resume talks on
how to prevent conflicts between their warplanes in the skies over Syria, even as
concerns mounted about the potential for a broader confrontation in the Middle East
between the two powers.
After days of complaints from U.S. and NATO officials about a lack of cooperation and
risky maneuvers by Russian warplanes, Russias Defense Ministry offered to hold
another round of discussions with the Pentagon on avoiding a midair disaster or a
hostile encounter involving their fighter jets, drones and other aircraft over Syria.
The tone expressed by both sides remained distrustful, however, as they labored to
agree on when to meet and accused each other of blocking progress. The dispute has
escalated in recent days as Russia has ramped up its bombing campaign in Syria,
further congesting a war zone that was already crowded with a dizzying array of
foreign forces.
Russian warplanes based in Syria have twice violated the airspace of neighboring
Turkey, a NATO member, adding to concerns about the potential for an inadvertent
collision or confrontation.
NATO leaders have called the airspace incursions a deliberate act by Russia and are
scheduled to meet Thursday in Brussels to discuss ways to counter Moscows moves.
Meanwhile, the issue has surfaced at every stop made by U.S. Defense Secretary
Ashton B. Carter this week during his travels in Europe.

On Tuesday, during separate visits to see U.S. troops stationed in Spain and Italy,
Carter was asked repeatedly how the Pentagon intended to respond to the Russian
intervention. Each time, he criticized the Kremlin for its strategy and what he described
as its risky behavior but said Russia would not deter the United States or its allies from
attacking the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
Were going to keep doing what weve been doing, Carter told U.S. personnel
stationed at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily. What theyre doing is not only wrong,
its backwards.
[U.S. will not directly confront Russia in Syria, Obama says]
Washington has accused Moscow of trying to prop up Syrian President Bashar alAssad, a critical ally, and targeting Syrian rebels backed by the United States and its
allies. Russia asserts that its main goal is to hit the Islamic State and other terrorist
groups fighting in Syrias civil war, which has continued for four years.
On Tuesday, Russias deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov, upped the ante. In
addition to the proposed talks about airspace management, he called for wider
discussions about some level of Russian partnership with the U.S.-led alliance against
the Islamic State.
To our regret, the Americans narrow down our cooperation to technical issues of

cooperation between our pilots during the assigned missions, Antonov said in a
statement.
U.S. officials reacted warily, saying they wanted to meet immediately to iron out
concerns about aviation safety but also suggesting that the Russian offer to team up
against the Islamic State was not genuine.

A photo from the Russian Defense

Ministrys official Web site shows a bomb being released from a Russian Su-24M jet
fighter over Syria. (AP/AP)
We look forward to the formal response from the Russians and learning the details,
said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. We stand ready to meet again to continue
our earlier discussions as soon as possible.
No real explanation
Pentagon officials first spoke with Russian leaders last week in a video teleconference
about devising an arrangement to prevent air accidents or hostile encounters over
Syria. But the talks did not get very far, and U.S. officials said that, until Tuesday,
Moscow had ignored their requests to meet again.
The backdrop was further complicated by rising tensions and clashing agendas.
In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Russias claim that
recent incursions into Turkish airspace were accidental.
It doesnt look like an accident, and weve seen two of them over the weekend,
Stoltenberg told a Brussels news conference, calling the incursions very serious.
Stoltenberg said he did not want to speculate on Russias motives but noted that
NATO had not received any real explanation.
Moscow quickly pushed back. Russias NATO envoy, Alexander Grushko, said the
military alliance was using an accidental incursion to distort the aims of Moscows
nearly week-old air campaign in Syria, according to the Russian TASS news agency.
Earlier Tuesday in Spain, Carter added to Washingtons warnings by criticizing
suggestions from Russian lawmakers that Moscow might send volunteer militia
fighters to Syria.
Russia, the defense secretary said, would simply be deepening their mistake in Syria

if ground forces joined the battles there. Such a move, he added, would only
encourage opponents of Assad to attack Russian interests in the region.
This is a very wrongheaded and backward approach and is sure to backfire, Carter
told reporters during a visit to Morn Air Base in southern Spain, where about 2,000
U.S. Marines and Air Force personnel are stationed. Its just going to fuel the Syrian
civil war, and so its a serious strategic mistake on the part of the Russians.
A top Russian lawmaker, Adm. Vladimir Komoyedov, insisted that Russia has no plans
to send ground troops, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
[Russia not likely a game changer in Syrian civil war]
New front line
Russia appears to be establishing what amounts to a front line extending from the
city of Hama to the port of Latakia, where Russian warplanes are operating out of an
expanded air base, according to a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss apparent Russian military moves.
Rebel advances in the area earlier in the summer spurred Russias decision to
intervene militarily on behalf of Assads government, which had begun to look
increasingly wobbly as the civil war ground on. The rebel gains in a strategic area of
northern Hama province called the Ghab plain had threatened to cut communications
between the Assad familys coastal heartland in Latakia and Damascus, the capital.
The United States has criticized Russia for attacking moderate rebels grouped under
the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army, but it has given no indication that it is prepared
to increase aid to them.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded by challenging the existence of
moderate rebels. He called the Free Syrian Army a phantom group, adding that
nothing is known about it.
Syrian state television reported, meanwhile, that Russian airstrikes Tuesday hit areas
including the ancient city of Palmyra. Activists have accused the Islamic State of
destroying antiquities in the area, such as the Arch of Triumph that was viewed by
the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century.
But a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman strongly denied the reports from
Moscows Syrian allies, saying no Russian airstrikes were carried out in Palmyra.
Our planes in Syria do not strike populated areas and especially ones with
architectural monuments, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, according to TASS news.
Murphy reported from Washington.
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