US expresses concern over Russia’s military action in Syria

Washington: US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed concern over Russia’s military action in Syria especially against non-Islamic State targets.
“The Secretary repeated our concerns about the preponderance of targets that are being struck by Russian military forces that are not ISIL-related,” the State Department Spokesman John Kirby yesterday said.

Kerry spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov over telephone about the importance of moving forward on tactical discussions and dialogue towards the goal of de-confliction to avoid mishaps and misunderstandings, particularly in the air.

The two leaders underlined about the importance of moving forward towards a political track in Syria, stressing once again that there’s not going to be a military solution to the civil war in Syria; that it can only be solved through a political solution.

This means a transition to a government away from Assad and towards one that is responsive to the desperate needs of the Syrian people, the US official said. Kirby said more and more members of the international community, be they multilateral organizations or entities or individual countries, recognize that the status quo in Syria is simply not sustainable.