US President Barack Obama described Russia as a constructive partner in the issue of a political settlement of the Syrian conflict.
The US leader said at the APEC summit that if Moscow and Washington will be able to develop a common opinion on the government of Bashar al-Assad, it will be the beginning of a great military cooperation between the two countries.
He stressed that their differences did not prevent the countries from considering a ceasefire in Syria, TASS reports.
The US Defense Department, in its turn, has welcomed the recent Russian strikes on the positions of the organization Islamic State in Syria.
"And in this instance, these most recent airstrikes appear to have targeted IS-controlled areas. That's a good thing," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.
"But we would like Russia to not only take part in the campaign against IS, but also to promote a diplomatic solution in Syria, also to use their influence with the Assad regime in trying to forge a political transition," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.
The Director General of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation, Sergey Mikheyev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that we should not jump to conclusions regarding the positive statements of the US. "It doesn't mean anything now. I think the West will try to apply the same pattern of 'cooperation', which they used in the 90's. They are waiting for real concessions from us to just tap us on the shoulder, smile and say that now we became a little bit better than we were. If we agree on such a scheme, it will be a big problem," the expert warned.
"It is necessary to develop a new formula for cooperation, which will be more honest, more open, and which will take the interests of all the parties into account. If the Americans try to cheat, and they will, so that won't do any good," Sergei Mikheyev stressed.
A senior research officer of the Center for European Studies (University) at the Moscow State University of Foreign Affairs, Vladimir Olenchenko, in his turn, noted that Obama prefers to talk about any positive contacts with Russia only beyond the borders of the United States. "This is understandable, because there is an inter-party struggle in the US. Accordingly, his statements about Russia are different in the United States and beyond. This is the first condition which we must take into account," the expert pointed out.
According to him, even though Obama has finally heeded Russian calls for a joint fight against terrorism, the trick lies in his words about the fate of Bashar al-Assad. "The fact is that the US fanatically tries to ensure that every state is headed by people who share the US views on international politics and its presence in the region. Bashar al-Assad has the position of a national perception of the situation. So I would have treated this statement as public posturing. They are still striving to remove Assad, while our position is the fight against terrorism," Vladimir Olenchenko said.
