Moscow urges US to engage Syria, offers military talks

Russia on Thursday strongly urged the United States and its allies to engage the Syrian government as a “partner” in the fight against the Islamic State group, and offered to share any information about its military supplies to Damascus with Washington.

New satellite imagery, meanwhile, showed the recent arrival of Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and other military equipment at an air base in Syria’s coastal Latakia province, confirming reports by U.S., Israeli and other officials of a military buildup.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking after talks with his Turkish counterpart in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, said the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq should coordinate its action with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in conformity with international law.

“There is no reason to evade cooperation with the Syrian leadership, which confronts that terror threat,” Lavrov said. He added that “the Syrian president commands the most capable ground force fighting terrorism.”

“Rejecting such a possibility, ignoring the capability of the Syrian army as a partner and ally in the fight against the IS means sacrificing security of the entire region for political or geopolitical intentions and calculations,” he said.

Washington, which has seen Assad as the cause of the Syrian crisis, has been concerned by an ongoing Russian military buildup in Syria and warned Moscow that it could further destabilize the situation. The U.S. said that Russia has ferried equipment, supplies and military personnel to Syria with the apparent goal of setting up an air base near the coastal town of Latakia, a stronghold of the Syrian president.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke with Lavrov three times this month to discuss the Russian action, said Lavrov offered Tuesday to have military-to-military talks and meetings on the situation in Syria. Kerry suggested that he favored such consultations, noting that the U.S. wants a clear picture of Russia’s intentions.

The satellite imagery provided by AllSource Analysis, a commercial satellite intelligence firm, confirmed a buildup in Latakia. The images show six main battle tanks, 26 armored personnel carriers, and recently deployed helicopters and artillery battery guns. The equipment apparently arrived between September 4 and 15.

The imagery also confirms new and extensive construction, including a new taxiway being built at the air base inside the Basel Assad International Airport — also known by its old name Hemeimeem airport — possibly in preparation for Russian troop arrivals.

The airport, named after the president’s brother, who died in a car accident in 1994, lies about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Latakia city. It is the only functioning airport in the country besides the international airport in Damascus, and is therefore of great importance to the government.

The images also show the deployment of trucks, and multiple Russian transport aircraft.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials say that Moscow has supplied weapons to Syria and sent military personnel to train its military to fight the Islamic State. They wouldn’t provide any numbers or other details.

Putin also seemed to keep the door open for a broader role in Syria. Asked earlier this month if Russia could send troops into Syria to help fight the IS, he answered that “we are looking at various options.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, speaking in an interview with Syrian TV Thursday evening, said no Russian combat troops were fighting in Syria.

“Russia is supporting the Syrian government and is ready to offer everything possible to combat terrorism when it becomes necessary,” al-Moallem said. He said Syria will not hesitate to ask for Russia’s help in the future if it is needed. His comments were the first by a senior Syrian official on Moscow’s military moves in Syria. He did not elaborate.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed Thursday that Moscow is happy to talk to Washington about its military cooperation with Syria.

“We have repeatedly told our American colleagues that we are ready to provide any information they need through the existing channels of communication, so that military experts on both sides could discuss the relevant issues,” she said at a briefing.

Zakharova said that there “can be no talk about any contradiction or conflict of action or interests” between Russia and the U.S. in Syria if Washington’s goal is to fight the Islamic State.

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Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.

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