Sergei Rudskoy, head of the General Staff’s main operations command, speaks during a briefing in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2016. REUTERS/SERGEI KARPUKHIN
On Fridan, the Russian General Staff reported that Russian had intensified air strikes against oil sites controlled by an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Al Nusra Front.
Sergei Rudskoy, head of the General Staff’s main operations command said Al Nusra was taking advantage of a previously announced cessation of hostilities in many locations, and of the fact that its units are often deployed in the same areas as the armed groups involved in the political process.
“Unfortunately, our American partners are not taking any decisive steps apart from persistent requests not to strike the groups of the Nusra Front, because ‘moderate opposition’ units may be located nearby,” Rudskoy noted.
According to the general, Russian warplanes intensified strikes against Al Nusra’s oil production sites and smuggling routes to Turkey. But the key question remains unsolved, he said.
“Further delays by our American partners in resolving the issue of differentiating the opposition units it controls from terrorists … leads to the disruption of the peace process and resumption of military actions in Syria.”
About time! Let’s not repeat this stupidity again. – American proxies simply use ceasefires to regroup. – Let there be no mercy for groups like Nusra and Daesh!
Better get putin out of the picture if you want that. With putin its one cease fire after another. Was same in ukraine too. WTF is wrong with putin’s head? Why does he keep signing up for cease fires?
At what point are these “appeasement” measures going to show some actual results? – SAA got into serious trouble while the Russian planes sat idle. – Why the ceasefire? What was gained? What did the Amercans give in exchange for this “favor”? – (Absolutely nothing)
When Russia brings down the hammer and destroys the terrorist network, there will be no excuse of lack of any reconciliation effort.
I think that, on the battleground, the ceasefire contributed in gathering enough men power from all across the Syrian country for the large scale offensive that had lead to the liberating of Palmyra and Quaryatayn. And there were some other gains, in the ideological war, too. https://southfront.org/the-russian-american-agreement-on-syria/
Negotiation should be done from a position of strength. Russia needs to significantly improve the situation in Syria (such as a decisive victory in the Aleppo, Damascus, or DeirEzzor campaigns) before they go back to the table. – Resolve the differences with Iran *FIRST* then try to pin the American diplomats down. This current strategy is doomed; so-called “ceasefires” will continue to fail and waste even more Russian resources/time. – Wake up and smell the captogen – these people are the least-trustworthy diplomats in history. Russia is starting to look weak and naive in the face of obvious American duplicity.
I hope they learned their lesson, it is futile to seek a comprimise with terrorists and their zionist masters. No quarter, no mercy!
Russia should learn from Sri Lanka during its 20 year war with the London based terror group LTTE what happens when ceasefires are implemented. The terrorist group comes back better armed with claymores the size of baggage suitcases.
Syria is NOT Sri Lanka, and comparing the LTTE to al-Nusra is horrible. – Temporary localized truces which result in prisoner exchanges or food deliveries to besieged civilians are a good thing. Talking about any kind of permanent widespread peace, however, is dangerously ignorant given the harsh realities on the ground. – Terrorist groups in Syria must be *crushed* by military means. There is no doubt that Russia and Iran have the resources to accomplish this – but lately they seem to lack the willpower.
Ask the locals and they will tell you the LTTE did similar atrocities against civilians including massacres of families in villages. Their media propaganda has been effective enough that even those not aligned with the west and the mainstream media have been fooled.