Russia-US relations deteriorate over Syria
October 3, 2016, 6:27 pm

The Syrian crisis has widened the gap between Moscow and Washington [Xinhua]

According to various wire reports quoting US officials, Washington will withdraw staff it had allocated to the establishment of the Joint Implementation Center (JIC) to monitor the Syrian ceasefire and decide which rebel groups are actually Al-Qaeda/Islamic State affiliates and make for legitimate targets.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement to the media that this decision was not taken lightly.

The JIC was one of the main achievements of the eleventh hour talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva in early September.

“Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments, including its obligations under international humanitarian law,” Kirby added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted by saying it regretted the US decision. But it also said that Washington was trying to shift the blame for the collapse of the Syrian ceasefire, according to a report from Reuters.

Meanwhile, Russia has suspended cooperation with the US on plutonium disposal.

“The 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, as well as the need to take swift action to defend Russian security,” President Vladimir Putin said when signing the decision to suspend the deal.

While the plutonium agreement is not directly related to the Syria talks, Lavrov said that cooperation on disposal of the radioactive element could be resumed if Washington “adjusted” its foreign policy and stopped making threats and issuing ultimatums to Russia.

For its part, Iran has warned the US not to attack the Syrian military.

Senior government advisor Ali Akbar Velayati told local media in Tehran late Sunday that the US has already suffered two major defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq and would do well to avoid a repeat in Syria.

“If the Americans take military action in Syria, it will be a suicidal action; and their third [military] defeat in the region after Afghanistan and Iraq will be a stronger defeat,” he said.

Read more: Russia, US trade barbs in Syria blame game

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies