U.S. trying to catch last car of Syria settlement train - Kosachyov on possible U.S. plans to stay in Syria
MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - The United States is trying to secure its stay in Syria, which has so far been illegitimate, by supporting local separatists, and any reports about this subject should be viewed as "bargaining" with Russia and the other two guarantor countries, Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov wrote on his Facebook page.
"The zigzags of current U.S. policy in the region are impossible to predict, and its final objective is not clear [except for weakening Iran at any cost]. Most likely, these leaks should be viewed as an element of 'bargaining' with Russia and the three Syria guarantor countries. They hint that they realize that the Syria settlement process cannot be stopped, but are intent on forcing everyone to reckon with them and the ones they support," Kosachyov wrote.
"Reports by the U.S. 'entourage' media saying that the U.S. has no intention of leaving Syria and actually wants to create a protectorate of its own in the country's north are clearly not accidental," he wrote.
"This, among other things, is a serious sign that the game is about to end: many are trying to secure advantageous positions for themselves in the finals for influencing the Syrian settlement process," Kosachyov wrote.
The U.S. "is trying to catch the last car of the Syria settlement train, which is apparently gone, judging by the trilateral summit the leaders of Russia, Iran, and Turkey had yesterday," he wrote.
"The U.S. is using the only method at their disposal, i.e. coarse support for Syrian domestic separatism [Washington is perfectly aware that the integrity of the Syrian state is a major condition of the peace process] and the attempts to secure its own presence on Syria land, which is totally illegitimate," he wrote.
Time will show whether such threats are real, he wrote.
Russia has never dodged a dialogue with any interested side, Kosachyov wrote, adding that it was no accident that Putin called regional leaders to tell them they were not targets.
"So any kind of blackmail or attempts to divide Syria are not the best way to stick one's foot into the closing door of the Syria process," Kosachyov wrote.