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Covert strikes on Assad back on US table to prevent ‘fall of Aleppo’ – report
RT,
8
October, 2016
Top
Washington officials are set to discuss striking positions of the
Syrian military without a UN Security Council resolution. Bombing air
force runways with missiles fired from coalition planes and ships is
being considered, according to a report.
“One
proposed way to get around the White House’s objection to striking
the Assad regime without a UN Security Council resolution would be to
carry out the strikes covertly and without public
acknowledgment,” one
administration official who is to take part in the discussions told
the Washington
Post.
A
meeting of the Obama administration’s Principals Committee is
scheduled for Wednesday, the newspaper reported, adding that a
meeting of the National Security Council could follow this weekend.
The
CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed support for “limited
military strikes against the Syrian government,”
last Wednesday, when the US discussed such “kinetic” options,
the official told the Washington Post.
“There’s
an increased mood in support of kinetic actions against the regime,”
one senior administration official was quoted as saying.
“The
CIA and the Joint Staff have said that the fall of Aleppo would
undermine America’s counterterrorism goals in Syria,” he added.
After
threatening to withdraw from the Syrian peace process for weeks,
Washington finally announced the “suspension”
of bilateral contact with Moscow concerning the crisis on
Monday.
Although contact to “deconflict” encounters
between the aircraft of the US and Russian militaries in Syrian skies
will continue, the US is withdrawing personnel dispatched for the
purpose of setting up a Joint Implementation Center (JIC) for the
ceasefire. The JIC, which would have been located in Geneva, was to
coordinate military cooperation and intelligence-sharing between
Russia and the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.
There
is “nothing
more for the US and Russia to talk about” in
Syria, White House spokesman Josh Earnest concluded on Monday.
Russia’s
Foreign Ministry said it was “disappointed” by the decision,
while accusing the US of trying to shift the blame for its own
failure in Syria. Russia has made efforts to preserve the September 9
ceasefire agreement, repeatedly urging Washington to live up to its
obligations, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Monday.
“It
turns out that Washington has failed to fulfill the key condition of
the agreement to ease humanitarian situation for the residents of
Aleppo”
said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “And
now, apparently, having failed to honor these agreements that they
themselves worked out, [the US] is trying to shift the blame.”
RT,
On
Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow’s
participation in a program that disposes of plutonium from
decommissioned nuclear warheads, citing “a
radical change in the environment, a threat to strategic stability
posed by the hostile actions of the US against Russia, and the
inability of the US to deliver on the obligation to dispose of
excessive weapons plutonium under international treaties.”
Washington
deemed that decision “disappointing.”
Asked
if the US had fulfilled its own long-standing obligation to separate
the so-called moderate opposition from terrorists, State Department
spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau replied, “We
believe we did.”
When
RT’s Gayane Chichakyan reminded Trudeau that several major rebel
groups had refused to abide
by the ceasefire outright, the spokeswoman hit back: “We expected
good faith efforts, not only from rebel groups on the ground… but
also Russia.
“If
attacked, opposition groups have the right to defend themselves,” she
added
Russia suspends nuclear cooperation with US, says Washington violated agreement
©
Michaela Rehle / Reuters
RT,
4
October, 2016
Moscow
has announced the suspension of cooperation with the US in the
nuclear and energy sectors. In a written statement the Kremlin said
Washington violated the agreement by imposing sanctions on Russia
over Ukraine.
“In
connection with the imposition of restrictions on cooperation with
the Russian Federation in nuclear energy by the United States of
America… to suspend the agreement between the government of the
Russian Federation and the government of the United States of America
on cooperation in research and development in the nuclear and energy
sectors,” the
statement says.
The
agreement was signed by both countries in September 2013 and was
aimed at scientific and technical cooperation in the use of nuclear
energy for peaceful purposes. That included nuclear safety, planning
of new power plants, joint management of radioactive waste and use of
nuclear energy for medical and industrial purposes.
In
April 2014, Russia’s leading nuclear company, Rosatom, received a
note from the US Department of Energy announcing a stop to
cooperation due to an “order
from Washington” over
the Ukraine crisis. As a result, the US canceled“bilateral
meetings and events on nuclear energy,” an
explanatory note to the Russian decree says.
"The
actions taken by the US in connection with imposing sanctions against
Russia have directly affected the areas of cooperation envisioned by
the agreement" and
demanded “counter
measures,” the
Russian document went on.
Reacting
to the move, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday that
Washington is ready to continue cooperation with Russia, since
it “serves
the interests of both countries.” The
US State Department echoed the statement, saying that Washington
would “regret” the
suspension of the deal with Moscow.
Meanwhile,
the Russian Foreign Ministry has said that
the country is ready to complete all of its obligations under
existing contracts. Moscow also reserves the right to go back to the
deal “when
it will be justified” by
the overall spirit of Russia-US relations, the explanatory note to
the decree said.
According
to the document, Moscow has already fulfilled its obligations on
testing the possibilities of transition of Russian research reactors
to low-enriched uranium.
"We
have fulfilled all obligations under the agreed contracts,” the
official representative of Rosatom told TASS. The source noted that
no further contracts are planned so far, since the cooperation with
the US has been in a “sleep mode” in the past two years
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