US seeks cooperation with Russia to end Syrian conflict

The United States (US) is keen to cooperate with Russia to stabilise the war-torn Syria, the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, announced yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference held at the state department in Washington DC, Tillerson argued that Iran’s military forces must leave Syria, and the Syrian regime must let the Syrians to form a new constitution and to run free and fair presidential elections ahead the the US cooperation with Russia.

During the conference Tillerson presented a synopsis on the foreign department’s achivemenrts since his appointement as the US state secretary seven month ago.

Despite the “soured relations” between Washington and Moscow, he noted, it had included a cooperation in ending the conflict in Syria.

Read: US scales back ambitions in Syria to accommodate Russia

The American diplomat stressed that his country is yet to change its stance towards the Assad regime, noting that it did not believe that Assad “should have a role in the nation’s future.”

Tillerson also conceded that the new US sanctions, which the American congress recently voted for, would pose a new obstacle, adding that neither he nor the US President, Donald Trump, are “happy” about it.

In an attempt by the US to strengthen its relations with Russia, the state official pointed out that he is schedueld to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in the Philippinian capital, Manila, within days.

#WarInSyria 

On the fight against Daesh, Tillerson stressed that the war against terrorism “is still going faster than expected,” describing the situation as “difficult.”

He hailed the the Iraqi army’s victory in liberating many Iraqi areas from Daesh, noting that the US will continue to support the national army in their battle against terrorist organisations.

Some two million people have returned back to their homes in Iraq.

On the Qatar-Gulf rift, Tillerson expressed the US worries over the crisis, adding that it “destabilises the Middle East region.”

Tillerson also stressed that the US is working with its allies to confront the “Iranian influence expansion” across the region.