Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and US Secretary of State, John Kerry, met in Vienna last Friday to discuss Syrian crisis.
Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry
Both officials held a meeting regarding the situation going on in Syria and the advances of the offensive led by the US and since September the 30th, by Russia as well.
A coordinated fight involving all the members of the coalition and the nearby countries is required to defeat ISIL, according to Russian aim, but the US and the Gulf Arab countries reject this option alleging that a likely cooperation with Iran would increase their influence in the region which, according to them is prejudicial. And at the same time, the alliance of Russia and Assad’s government to fight the terrorist group is not well seen by the US.
Even though a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the US and Russia to avoid crashes during air operations, mutual aid of any kind between both countries won’t take place possibly due to the US concern about Russia increasing its influence in the region.
Written by Lisbeth Mechter