Russian expert says it was unwise of US to break cooperation with Russia in Syria

It was unwise of the United States to break down the Syria ceasefire deal and sever cooperation with Russia on this track, a Russian expert said on Tuesday.

“The American are making a big blunder unacceptable for diplomacy, for politics by closing channels of cooperation with a major player in this field,” Vitaly Naumkin, director of science at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies and a senior political adviser to United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

“Moreover, they hope to decline all responsibility and shift it onto Russia. They hope to be playing with some of the regional players who are interested in avoiding political settlement. So, they are supporting and helping such players but as a matter of fact they are helping militans, directly or indirectly,” he said.

In such conditions, according to the Russian expert, Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) is feeling comfortable in areas controlled by its militants whereas another terrorist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, has long merged with various so-called moderate groups which cannot go on fighting without it.

Now, only Russia and the Syrian government army are conducting real war on terrorists in Syria while the Americans cannot and do not want to separate moderate opposition from terrorists, Naumkin stressed.