Russia’s military buildup in Syria has further complicated any already complex situation, the UK defence secretary Michael Fallon has said.
Moscow has sent planes, ships, armour and marines to Latakia, the coastal stronghold of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, in support of his fight against Islamic State (Isis), which has occupied large swathes of the country.
Fallon told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), the UK’s main defence thinktank, that, unlike the US, he has had no direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, about the deployment.
The US and Russia, though not in alliance, have found themselves engaged in a fight against a common enemy. As a result, the US dropped its year-long refusal to engage in military talks with Russia, imposed as a result of the Ukraine crisis.
Fallon, in a question and answer session after his Rusi speech, was asked by the Guardian if he had spoken to Shoigu. “No. We have not discussed military operations against Isil [Isis] in Syria with the Russians. [But] obviously these things are discussed with our allies all the time,” he said.
“The Russian action in the last few weeks of putting ships and aircraft into the region further complicates an immensely complex situation.”
The US, partly in response to the Russian intervention, appears to be playing down the removal of Assad, seeing the defeat of Isis as the priority.
But Fallon continued to identify Assad as one of the biggest problems in the conflict that has seen hundreds of thousands killed and an estimated 11 million displaced, about four million of whom have fled abroad.
“Thousands of people have already been killed, millions are being displaced. You have a regime that is barrel-bombing its own citizens and you have Isil [Isis] with its own brand of barbarity,” he said. “So it is urgent that we find a way through to bring peace to that particular country.”
Fallon said Nato ministers would discuss Syria when they meet in Brussels soon.
In a speech devoted to the strategic defence review scheduled to be published towards the end of the year, Fallon said the world had become much more dangerous since 2010 and identified Russia as one of the reasons for that.
“We have seen a revanchist Russia reheating the Cold War … menacing its neighbours and increasingly using hybrid warfare to pursue its goals.”
The government is planning to hold a vote on extending airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria. Fallon said this is necessary because Raqqa in Syria is the Isis command and control centre.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is opposed to the air strikes but his shadow cabinet is divided.
Asked if there would be a majority in the Commons for military action in Syria, Fallon said: “The prime minister has made it very clear that to extend our operations into Syria we need the support of parliament and we will not go and ask for that support until we are sure of getting it. We will have to make the argument on both sides of the House.”
Moscow has sent planes, ships, armour and marines to Latakia, the coastal stronghold of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, in support of his fight against Islamic State (Isis), which has occupied large swathes of the country.
Fallon told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), the UK’s main defence thinktank, that, unlike the US, he has had no direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, about the deployment.
The US and Russia, though not in alliance, have found themselves engaged in a fight against a common enemy. As a result, the US dropped its year-long refusal to engage in military talks with Russia, imposed as a result of the Ukraine crisis.
Fallon, in a question and answer session after his Rusi speech, was asked by the Guardian if he had spoken to Shoigu. “No. We have not discussed military operations against Isil [Isis] in Syria with the Russians. [But] obviously these things are discussed with our allies all the time,” he said.
“The Russian action in the last few weeks of putting ships and aircraft into the region further complicates an immensely complex situation.”
The US, partly in response to the Russian intervention, appears to be playing down the removal of Assad, seeing the defeat of Isis as the priority.
But Fallon continued to identify Assad as one of the biggest problems in the conflict that has seen hundreds of thousands killed and an estimated 11 million displaced, about four million of whom have fled abroad.
“Thousands of people have already been killed, millions are being displaced. You have a regime that is barrel-bombing its own citizens and you have Isil [Isis] with its own brand of barbarity,” he said. “So it is urgent that we find a way through to bring peace to that particular country.”
Fallon said Nato ministers would discuss Syria when they meet in Brussels soon.
In a speech devoted to the strategic defence review scheduled to be published towards the end of the year, Fallon said the world had become much more dangerous since 2010 and identified Russia as one of the reasons for that.
“We have seen a revanchist Russia reheating the Cold War … menacing its neighbours and increasingly using hybrid warfare to pursue its goals.”
The government is planning to hold a vote on extending airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria. Fallon said this is necessary because Raqqa in Syria is the Isis command and control centre.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is opposed to the air strikes but his shadow cabinet is divided.
Asked if there would be a majority in the Commons for military action in Syria, Fallon said: “The prime minister has made it very clear that to extend our operations into Syria we need the support of parliament and we will not go and ask for that support until we are sure of getting it. We will have to make the argument on both sides of the House.”
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