Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

U.S.-Russia trust issues hinder Syria talks, Obama says

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. (Alexei Druzhinin / Associated Press)
By Christi Parsons Tribune News Service

HANGZHOU, China – Lack of trust between the U.S. and Russia is getting in the way of possible cooperation to stop the violence in Syria, President Barack Obama said Sunday.

The president said he nevertheless plans to keep trying against the odds. “Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation,” he said.

After a 90-minute meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Group of 20 summit, Obama said “we haven’t yet closed the gaps” between the two sides.

Talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov aimed at finding at least a limited agreement on Syria could take “several more days,” Obama said.

In their meeting Sunday, Obama and Putin “clarified the remaining gaps” in the negotiations about how they can cooperate to reduce violence in Syria, provide humanitarian assistance and focus on al-Qaida and Islamic State in Syria, according to a senior administration official familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The outstanding gaps, the official said, were “technical,” having to do with the implementation of the agreement.

“There was some backsliding from some of the recent discussions in Geneva” between Kerry and Lavrov, the official said, adding that on Sunday there was a “narrowing back” to the positions the parties had taken coming into the meeting.

In a news conference at the end of the G-20 meeting, Obama said a “dangerous dynamic” had taken hold in which the Russians sought to delegitimize any group that is fighting their ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The U.S. backs some of the rebel groups against Assad, considering them to be relative moderates. Obama and other U.S. officials would like to see Russia focus on what Obama referred to as “common enemies,” naming the Islamic State militants and the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate.

Russia, however, considers several of the groups the U.S. backs to be terrorist organizations and therefore legitimate targets.