US Agrees to Military Talks as ‘Next Step’ with Russia on Syria

“The president believes that a mil-to-mil conversation is an important next step,” Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday, speaking at a meeting in London, “and I think, hopefully, will take place very shortly.”

Kerry’s comment marked a sudden shift in tone for the Obama administration, which has repeatedly admonished Moscow in the past few weeks over claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin had deployed Russian troops and heavy weapons — including T-90 tanks and armored personnel carriers — to an air base in Latakia, Syria.

Kerry had previously warned the Kremlin over its alleged military build-up on behalf of Assad, who the US opposes, saying the move “could further escalate the conflict,” and runs the risk of direct confrontation with US drones and fighter jets purportedly striking ISIL positions in northern Syria.

Also Friday, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, for the first time since Carter assumed his position in February. The thrust of their phone call was “mechanisms for deconfliction” in Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement, suggesting a new-found willingness on Washington’s part to engage directly with Moscow.

 Kerry said Washington’s focus “remains on destroying ISIL and also on a political settlement with respect to Syria, which we believe cannot be achieved with the long-term presence of Assad.” He added, “We’re looking for ways in which to find a common ground."

Putin is expected to call for a revival of Syria’s peace process during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly later this month, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday.

Many analysts saw the White House’s consent on Friday as a small victory for Putin’s positions on Syria. The US strategy in Syria, which was initially aimed at bolstering the so-called “moderate” opposition factions against Assad, has been derailed by the rise of a greater threat — ISIL. The factions that the US backs continue to demand Assad’s departure as a precondition of peace talks, but most analysts believe the US is increasingly fearful that his removal would only serve to widen the power vacuum that has allowed groups like ISIL and Al-Qaeda to metastasize.

Many in Russian political circles say they see through Washington's increasingly tepid rhetoric that Assad must go. “This is something we share now with the US government: They don’t want the Assad government to fall,” the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, told The New York Times this week.

“They want to fight ISIL in a way that won’t harm the Syrian government. On the other hand, they don’t want the Syrian government to take advantage of their campaign against ISIL.”

Despite the past year of sky-high tensions between the US and Russia, punctuated by the Cold War–like conflict over Ukraine, analysts say the ISIL dilemma has thrust the Obama administration towards some points of alignment with Moscow.