Russia urges Washington to coordinate raids in Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called on the United States to coordinate its military raids in Syria in order to avoid any “unintentional outcomes,” Alkhaleejonline.net reported on Friday.

“The Pentagon has to increase its military coordination with the Russian army,” Lavrov told journalists, “as Russia has a military base in Syria while the US army is active there.”

Contradicting what he said a few days ago, Lavrov said that his country is going ahead in building up its military presence in Syria and increasing military support for Al-Assad in order to beat Daesh. He called for the world powers to do the same in order to make the anti-ISIS efforts more effective.

Washington and NATO have claimed previously that Russia’s increased military presence in Syria may hinder the efforts of the US-led coalition to fight Daesh. They also expressed their concerns that Russian forces might strike against Western-backed militants who are fighting Al-Assad’s regime.

It has been reported that two Russian ships carrying tanks, aircraft and Special Forces arrived in Syria two days ago. Russia is, apparently, building a new military airport in Latakia, making it the second Russian base in the country after the port in Tartus.

“It is likely that Moscow has decided to interfere directly in Syria to protect Al-Assad’s regime after the failure of such attempts by Iranian, Iraqi and sectarian forces,” commented an American intelligence official.