Russia believes that holding a national vote could be part of a political solution to the Civil war. Official reports from the Russian armed forces now states that an estimated 900 Aerial missions have been conducted by the Russian Air Force (RuAF) over Syria.
Marines Guarding Russian Air Force at Syrian Hmaimim Airbase. Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Orlov
Originally appeared at Nzz.ch, translated by Reduit exclusively for SouthFront
Russian Ambassador Sergei Lawrow said on Sunday to Russian tv channel Rossya 1 that he believes that if the Syrian parliament can prepare and successfully hold a national vote, it could be one step closer to ending the civil war. After a fruitless meeting with US ambassador John Kerry in Wien several days ago, the two ambassadors are now discussing how to end the Syrian conflict via telephone.
After discussions it was also suggested that other nations from the middle east could potentially co-operate in any further actions taken. Ambassador Lawrow has also said he has mentioned the meeting in Wien to Iran and Egypts ambassadors.
In the following days both Lawrow and Kerry are wanting to set their plans into action, part of which is to involve Quatar, UAE, Iran Jordan and Egypt in finding a solution to the escalating conflicts within the middle east.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has also mentioned during his visit to Moscow last Wednesday that once the fighting ceases, political changes shall need to occur in the country for Syria to remain stable.
Meanwhile the USA and Syrian Opposition are calling for Assad to step down from office, pressure having increased since Russias highly criticized involvement in the Syrian war since September,
The US claims that the Russian air force is not attacking IS forces but is instead bombing Syrian opposition troops to give Assads forces the upper hand. Russia stated that it is impossible to tell the two forces apart due to the fact that both forces use a mixture of soviet military vehicles and have similar arsenals and equipment.
Lawrow also stated that Russia would be more effective in its bombing campaign if the US shared information on where the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have kept their positions, information which the US government has so far been unwilling to share. He also stated that the Russian armed forces believe that the FSA does not existl, rather that Syrian opposition are small groups of different tribes who are operating together, several of which are believed to have ties with Islamic State (IS)
Russian Defence minister Igor Konashenkow told RT that a total of 900 operational flights have been conducted since September, resulting in the destruction of 800 targets. London has claimed that one target hit by Russian fighter-bombers was infact a FSA field hospital in the Hamar province, resulting in the deaths of many patients. However London has brought forward no evidence to support this statement.
Fighting continues on the ground however amidst the political discussions, the UN reports that IS have recently captured an important supply route the Syrian army had been using to resupply its forces in the Aleppo area.