Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday asked world powers to jointly arm the Syrian government in its fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS), saying it would be the most efficient way to combat the terror group, reported The Associated Press.
The U.S. and its allies are unlikely to agree to such terms, though, as they have been working to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since before the Syrian civil war began in 2011, and are now arming and training moderate rebels fighting against both Syrian government forces and ISIS. More than 250,000 civilian lives have been lost over four years, and over 11 million have been displaced. The U.S. blames Assad for the escalating conflict and migrant crisis, while others like former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul blame years of U.S. interventionism.
In Sept. 2014, U.S. forces began conducting bombing campaigns against ISIS inside Syria, but U.S. intelligence reports indicate the war has not been going as well as planned, with ISIS no weaker than when bombing first began, as HNGN previously reported.
Lavrov seemed to agree with that assessment, saying on Friday, "You cannot defeat Islamic State with air strikes only. It's necessary to cooperate with ground troops and the Syrian army is the most efficient and powerful ground force to fight the IS."
The U.S. has so far refused to work together with Syrian government forces.
Russia recently began sending military equipment and troops into Syria, which the U.S. and NATO have expressed concern over since it is seen as an attempt to reinforce Assad, reports Al Jazeera.
But Lavrov insists the aid is not meant to prop up Assad, but rather, only meant to help defeat ISIS fighters.
"I can only say once again that our servicemen and military experts are there to service Russian military hardware, to assist the Syrian army in using this hardware," he said at the news conference in Moscow. "And we will continue to supply it to the Syrian government in order to ensure its proper combat readiness in its fight against terrorism."
