Russia sends transport planes into Syria defying US request not to increase support for Assad
AS the PM prepares to announce air strikes in Syria, Russia increases the risk of the war-torn country becoming an international flashpoint.
AS the Prime Minister Tony Abbott prepares to announce air strikes in Syria, Russia increases the risk of the war-torn country becoming an international flashpoint by ignoring a personal plea from the US.
Moscow has sent three giant Russian Condor transport aircraft into Assad International Airport near Syria’s Mediterranean port of Latikia and unloaded large containers.
A passenger flight has also arrived from Russia, presumably bringing people who will move into modular housing which has been built at the airfield and can hold in excess of 1000 people.
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A US official told CBS that every indication is that Russia is setting up a forward operating base. It might be in preparation for military intervention or it could be a ramping up of military deliveries to the regime of Syria’s deposed President Bashar Hafez al-Assad.
A US military official called this development “very troubling,” Fox News reported.
Moscow’s action is in defiance of a call from US Secretary of State John Kerry to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the weekend to voice “concerns” about the “imminent” build-up of Russian military forces in Syria, Fox News reported.
Russia is known to be supplying military warfare to Assad’s supporters but the latest action increases the prospect of American, backed by Australia’s RAAF, and Russian warplanes fighting on opposite sides in the skies over Syria.
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In a statement released after Mr Kerry’s call with Mr Lavrov, the US State Department warned that Russia’s continued actions could “further escalate the conflict” and “risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria.”
Mr Abbott is set to announce that the RAAF will start bombing Islamic State targets in Syria after a request from the US following a meeting of the national security committee of cabinet on Tuesday night.
Australia has been conducting air operations to strike Islamic State forces in Iraq since October last year, flying six Hornet fighter-bombers, a Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and a KC-30A tanker aircraft from bases in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Abbott and Defence Minister Kevin Andrews have been briefed about extending air operations to hit targets in Syria after a request from the US.
The US stance is at odds with the Pentagon and State Department last week initially welcoming Russia’s increased involvement in Syria.
Vladimir Putin’s government is aligned with Assad, whom the Obama administration wants out of power. The US is boosting local forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and initially welcomed the increased Russian involvement as contributing toward that anti-ISIS effort.
“We would welcome anyone who wants to help in the coalition against ISIL,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said last Thursday.
“There’s a 37-some-odd-country coalition that’s taking the fight to ISIL. We would welcome Russia to be more involved in that effort,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner also said.
The statement following the Kerry-Lavrov call, though, indicates the Obama administration now worries Russia’s involvement could make the situation worse. AP also reported that Greece has asked Russia to stop overflights into Syria, at the request of the US government.
Lavrov later remarked that Russia has been continuously supplying military equipment to Syria. He said Moscow “has never concealed that it delivers military equipment to official Syrian authorities with the aim of combating terrorism,” according to Reuters.
Putin is expected to attend the UN General Assembly for the first time in 10 years later this month in New York.
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