Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday said Russia’s airstrikes in Syria in support of the Assad regime were “pouring gasoline on the fire” and called for Moscow to pursue a political solution.
“To fight [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] without pursuing a political transition only risks a civil war,” he said at a briefing. “That approach is tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire.”
{mosads}Russia began airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday, after weeks of surging aircraft, troops and other military equipment to Syria.
Russian officials have said their military operations would be aimed at the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). U.S. officials are concerned they will target U.S.-supported opposition groups and bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad’s grip on power, inflaming and prolonging the four-year civil war.
Carter also said the Russian airstrikes, which began Wednesday morning, appeared to be in places “where ISIL in fact are not present” and “others are present.”
“It does appear that they were in areas there where there probably were not ISIL forces,” Carter said, using a different acronym for ISIS.
The Defense secretary said the U.S.-led coalition would continue to conduct airstrikes in Syria as planned.
Carter said “the next step” would be to begin U.S.-Russian talks to deconflict Syrian airspace where both nations are conducting airstrikes. Those talks would begin in a few days, he said.
The primary goal of these talks will be to avoid any inadvertent incidents between U.S. and Russian forces.
The Pentagon announced the talks Tuesday, but before they could begin, Russia began striking in Syria on Wednesday.
A Russian official walked into the U.S. embassy in Baghdad Wednesday morning to tell U.S. officials that Moscow would begin striking. Carter slammed that communication as unprofessional.
“This is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the Russian military,” he said.
Carter said the Russians’ stated intent to fight ISIS and their actions striking non-ISIS targets in order to bolster Assad were “contradictory,” but did not outline any steps beyond the talks.
“Lets see what eventuates from these discussions,” he said.
Despite administration and defense officials saying for weeks that the Pentagon was still trying to figure out Russia’s intentions in terms of its military buildup in Syria, Carter also said Moscow has been broadcasting its intentions for weeks.
“I take the Russians at their word,” he said. “They have said quite clearly that they intend to deploy forces and conduct strikes there.”
“They have been saying, now, for a couple of weeks, they’re going to do that,” he added.