US concerned with Russian supplies to Syrian regime

WASHINGTON

U.S. officials on Tuesday expressed concerns about Russian shipments of arms to Syria, despite Moscow's assertion that supplies to the Syrian regime are to fight Daesh.

"The Russian support for the Assad regime risks further escalating the conflict, making the situation worse,” said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. “That is our concern right now and we don't see any indication right now that the Russians are ending their support for the Assad regime," he added.

Addressing the issue, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Russian intentions in Syria are not clear and that uncertainty prompted Secretary of State John Kerry to call his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during the weekend.

Kerry told Lavrov that any effort to bolster the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not be productive; but Moscow has never concealed its support for a Syrian regime also fighting terror groups.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said last week that Moscow would engage in a military build-up inside Syria – a move the U.S. believes would further destabilize an already precarious situation.

"It's not going to bolster the fight against the Islamic State," said Cook, using an alternative name for Daesh.

Cook said Daesh and the Assad regime can not be disconnected from each other as Daesh came about after Assad failed to govern his country.

"The most productive thing that Russia can do for the conflict in Syria is to stop aiding and abetting Bashar Al-Assad," Kirby said. "The same man, who has by his own brutality and violence on his own people, allowed ISIL to grow and to spread inside his own country," he added.