The Israeli mass media reported that Russian military aircraft have arrived in Syria for the fight against Islamic State. It is said that “Russian expeditionary forces” have already been deployed to a military base near Damascus controlled by forces of Bashar Assad, and soon “thousands of Russian soldiers and officers, including advisors, instructors, technical staff and pilots” will arrive at the base. Sources in the Russian Defense Ministry deny the information, stating that Russian military aviation stays at basic airfields and hasn’t been sent to Syria to fight the militants of Islamic State.
Meanwhile, Hassan Abdel Azim, general coordinator of the National Coordinating Committee of Syria, says that the ISIS threat to Syria, Iraq and the region, and to the European Union is becoming more obvious: “As a result, there was a desire among the Americans, France and the EU to work more effectively and to cooperate with Russia in order to solve this problem, so Syria will not be dominated by ISIS and will not become a part of the 'Islamic Caliphate'. The consequences of such a scenario could be very sad for many countries. Therefore, Russian-American consent provides far more opportunities to solve the Syrian problem.”
According to Abdel Azim, Moscow can influence the settlement of the Syrian problem: “Russia has not changed its position. Russia has been saying from the very beginning that neither the opposition nor the regime can cope with the opposition by military means. Everyone has seen that the Syrian regime gets support from a number of surrounding countries. On the other hand, the opposition has asked the internal forces for help. And all of this has led to the fact that the terrorist forces have been reinforced.”
The UN Envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is holding a series of bilateral consultations with various Syrian and international participants on a settlement in Syria. “The United States, Britain, France and the EU have adopted a more realistic position and support the efforts of de Mistura, and his initiatives. There is a certain pressure on the National Coalition of the Revolutionary Opposition to make it take a more realistic position. Now more forces are against ISIS, against terrorism. The armed opposition and the Free Syrian Army, even they have already expressed their support for a political solution. The former US representative and the current US representative come to Moscow and discuss, accept Russian initiatives, Russian efforts. The only document to be adopted by the opposition no longer requires the elimination of the current regime in Syria, and lays down conditions to preserve the unity of Syria,” Abdel Azim says.
According to him, “despite the Ukrainian crisis, a much more serious approach is planned in relations between Russia and the United States. Even Saudi Arabia, I have read the speeches of some leaders, even they do not explicitly reject the possibility of a political settlement. Thus, the desire of the internal and external Syrian opposition to move towards a political settlement is extending. And we see the manifestation of the political settlement in the international arena.”