Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
The Kremlin dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to Syria not to launch an offensive in the opposition-held enclave of Idlib, saying on Tuesday that the area was a "nest of terrorism".
Trump on Monday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Iran and Russia not to "recklessly attack" the northwestern Syrian province, saying hundreds of thousands of people could be killed.
"Just to speak out with some warnings, without taking into account the very dangerous, negative potential for the whole situation in Syria, is probably not a full, comprehensive approach," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The presence of the opposition in Idlib was undermining the Syrian peace process and making the region a base for attacks on Russian forces in Syria, Peskov added.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad not to “recklessly attack” Idlib province amid reports of a potential military offensive by regime forces.“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy,” Trump posted on Twitter.“Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!” he added.Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities that were attacked by the Assad regime’s forces.In May, Idlib was designated a “de-escalation zone” -- in which acts of aggression are expressly forbidden -- as part of ongoing peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.Earlier Monday, Germany and France expressed concern about a possible major offensive in the region.Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who arrived in Damascus Monday for talks ahead of a planned trilateral summit on war-torn Syria, said the Al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist groups “must be cleaned out of Idlib”.
Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib
"A fairly large group has settled there and of course this leads to a general destabilisation of the situation. It undermines attempts to bring the situation onto the track of a political-diplomatic settlement," he said.
"We know that Syria's armed forces are preparing to resolve this problem," he added.
Russia resumed air strikes in Idlib province on Tuesday after a hiatus of several weeks, according to a Syrian opposition member and a war monitor.
A source has told Reuters that Assad is preparing a phased offensive to regain the province.
The situation around Idlib will be one of the main items on the agenda when the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey meet in Tehran this week, Peskov told reporters on a conference call, declining to elaborate further.
Talks between major powers this month on setting up a committee to lead constitutional reform in Syria will be a "moment of truth" for a credible political process, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters on Tuesday.De Mistura will hold separate sets of talks next week, one involving Russia, Turkey and Iran, and the other including the United States and Saudi Arabia, to discuss the makeup of the committee.He said it must not be allowed to become a "long, winding process about the process" but could be the entry point into Syrian government reforms leading to elections after the war. Kremlin dismisses Trump warning on Syria's Idlib'White Helmets saved 115,000 lives in Syria'Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib
UN sees 'moment of truth' for Syria political process
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad sent out peace feelers to Israel -- via the U.S. -- in 2010, according to a new book by Obama-era Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli daily Haaretz reported Tuesday.In his new memoir, “Every Day is Extra”, Kerry writes about his experiences dealing with international issues and U.S. policymaking during his career in politics and diplomacy.In regards to Syria, Kerry -- who served as a senator before his diplomatic appointment -- recalls a meeting he had with Assad while he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.According to Kerry, when he “pressed” Assad regarding the latter’s continued support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Syrian leader said: “Everything is to be negotiated.”Kremlin dismisses Trump warning on Syria's IdlibKerry goes on to say how Assad had voiced readiness to change Syria’s policy on Hezbollah in the event that sought-for talks with Israel bore any fruit.Haaretz quotes Kerry as writing: “Assad asked me what it would take to enter into serious peace negotiations [with Israel], in the hope of securing return of the Golan Heights, which Syria had lost to Israel in 1967.”“I told him that if he were serious, he should make a private proposal,” Kerry adds. “He asked what it would look like. I shared my thoughts. He instructed his top aide to draft a letter from Assad to President Obama.”According to the former secretary of state, Assad, in his letter, had asked Obama to sponsor a fresh round of Syria-Israel peace talks, expressing his readiness “to take a number of steps in exchange for the return of the Golan from Israel”.Russia resumes Idlib air strikes: Syrian ObservatoryKerry then reportedly recalls how he had visited Israel one day later, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had been “surprised that Assad was willing to go that far”.The Obama administration, Kerry writes, tested Assad’s seriousness about the proposal, asking him to take several “confidence-building measures”, including the halt of arms shipments to Hezbollah.“Yet Assad disappointed the administration by failing to follow through on his promises,” Kerry writes.Germany urges prevention of disaster in Syria’s Idlib“I remember hearing that Assad was continuing with exactly the kind of behavior on Hezbollah that we told him needed to stop,” Haaretz quotes Kerry as saying in his book.He adds: “It was disappointing but unsurprising.”One year later, in 2011, conflict erupted in Syria, where Hezbollah continues to fight alongside the Assad regime.
Assad sought peace with Israel in 2010: Kerry memoir