MOSCOW _ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry presented Russian President Vladimir Putin a proposal aimed at curtailing violence in Syria ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline, as the Obama administration seeks to salvage a cease-fire in the 5 {-year civil war.
The overture would establish a Joint Implementation Group in which the U.S. and Russia would coordinate on airstrikes against Syrian rebel groups that the two countries agree are terrorists, according to a text obtained by The Washington Post. Yet while Kerry and Putin met Thursday at the Kremlin in Moscow, officials on both sides said an agreement was by no means certain.
The plan would see the U.S. sharing military information for targeting Islamic State and the al Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, while Russia would use its influence to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to ground his air force and uphold the cease-fire.
"We've always made clear that we would welcome a contribution _ a military contribution from Russia, as long as they were focused on ISIL and al Qaida's presence in Syria," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington Thursday, using an acronym for Islamic State. "Unfortunately, we've seen them devote too much of their attention to using their military might to prop up the Assad regime."
Overshadowing the talks is an Aug. 1 deadline for a political settlement, even as violence has surged, especially in the rebel bastion of Aleppo. The war, which has killed more than 280,000 people and sent millions fleeing to neighboring countries and Europe, has also allowed Islamic State to seize territory that it has used as a base to direct and inspire terror attacks in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.
Without commenting on the specifics of the proposal, Kerry said Thursday he was seeking progress "that can make a difference to the course of events in Syria." Putin responded that he hoped Kerry could return to President Barack Obama and "advise him of the progress made and of a possible headway for us to make."
Russia's military intervention in Syria last September changed the tide of the war in Assad's favor even as a U.S.-led alliance conducted airstrikes against Islamic State and the Nusra Front. There's been little coordination between the Russian and U.S. military forces other than efforts to avoid accidental targeting of each other's planes.
While a partial "cessation of hostilities" took effect in late February, that agreement quickly broke down and broader talks in Geneva over a political solution to the crisis stalemated. Diplomats in recent weeks have pressed for improved humanitarian access to besieged cities and towns.
"President Obama and Kerry and others are pressing this because they see a dead end otherwise," said Michael Wahid Hanna, a senior fellow in New York at the Century Foundation. "They're not interested in escalating. They see escalation as a dead end and while they think that the cessation of hostilities didn't last as long as one would hope, it lasted longer than people expected and had a material impact on levels of violence in the country."
Highlighting the challenges facing any new accord, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday the U.S. has failed to carry out its promise to separate rebel groups it supports from Nusra. Echoing that concern, a Kremlin official said Thursday it wasn't clear the two sides would reach a deal because they remain at odds over the links between Nusra and other rebel groups. The official requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Under the Kerry proposal, the U.S. would detail areas of Syria that Assad's military shouldn't bomb, though it wouldn't give Russia precise locations of rebel groups in those locations, the Post reported. The Obama administration has blamed Russia for attacking anti-Assad rebels that the U.S. and its allies consider moderates.
Reflecting Pentagon opposition to Kerry's initiative, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has little faith that Russia can be trusted to abide by the agreement, CNN reported, citing unidentified defense officials. When asked if there's a difference of opinion on the proposal between the Pentagon and State Department, Earnest, the White House spokesman, said Obama elicits "people with different perspectives and encourages them to share their opinions."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova declined to comment on the U.S. proposal, though she said enhanced cooperation in Syria has long been a matter of discussion.
"Russia has influence, it has shown it has influence," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said Thursday. "The secretary is committed to creating this space for a political transition."
