Moscow expects joint action with US to counter provocations in Syria — official

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council upper house Defense and Security Committee Franz Klintsevich has said he hopes Russia and the United States will take joint action to terminate armed provocations in Syria.

"Of course, we do expect joint actions with the US to stop armed provocations in Syria," the lawmaker told reporters on Monday. He thus commented on the statement of Russia’s General Staff on its readiness to unilaterally use military force against Syrian truce violators if it receives no reply from the US to its proposals to monitor the ceasefire. According to head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff Sergey Rudskoy, Russia sent the corresponding proposals on February 25, and on March 5 it handed over to the American side a compromise version of the agreement on monitoring the compliance with the truce.

According to Klintsevich, Russia’s response to "the unpreparedness or unwillingness of the American side to thoroughly discuss the text of the document that contains the procedure of using military force against the armed groups systematically violating the ceasefire in Syria is perfectly adequate." "So far, Russia has refrained from unilateral actions. However, we can no longer watch the developments and do nothing - the ceasefire itself has been put in jeopardy," he said.

Klintsevich noted that "the American side had enough time to coordinate all points of controversy with us," all the more so as "Russia proposes nothing fundamentally new." "Our proposals to ensure compliance with and monitoring the cessation of hostilities in Syria stem from the provisions of the joint Russian-US statement and the relevant UN Security Council resolution," he said.

"Order must be restored, and there are certain forces for this. Why not use them?" head of the Russian State Duma lower house Defense Committee Vladimir Komoedov has told TASS. "We have not left [Syria] altogether, we still have strength to maintain combat stability and combat use, if necessary," he said.

"So, I do not think this is a threatening statement, it is real. If you do not want peace, there will be a military response in this respect," the parliamentarian added.