Russia is ready to use military force starting March 22 against the armed groups violating Syria’s ceasefire if it gets no US response to its proposals on controlling the ceasefire regime, the Head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of Russia, Sergey Rudskoy, said.
He noted that Russia had sent the corresponding proposals on February 25, and sent a compromise draft agreement to the United States on March 5.
"The Russian side expresses readiness for holding the US expert consultations in Moscow. If the Russian Federation gets no response from the United States to these proposals, it will proceed starting March 22 to unilateral application of the rules specified in the Agreement," TASS cited Rudskoy as saying.
He emphasized that military force will be used only after receiving credible evidence of systematic violations of the truce. "Military force will not be used against the groups, observing the ceasefire regime, as well as against the civilian population and civilian facilities," the general explained.
The editor-in-chief of 'National Defense' magazine, Igor Korotchenko, stressed in conversation with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza that the Russian side is ready to use military force not to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but to ensure adherence to the ceasefire regime. "If some Syrian opposition groups don't want to stop fighting and continue to shell civilian populations, they will be forced to peace through air strikes. It is absolutely justified and normal," he noted.
The expert explained that they are talking about the destruction of those groups which identify themselves with Daesh, refusing to respect the ceasefire. "Those who do not cease fire are terrorists for us, they will be destroyed," the editor-in-chief of 'National Defense' magazine said.
Korotchenko said that if Washington provides no response to Moscow's proposals, the Russian side will strike in the manner determined by the Russian military command, including groups under US control. "If the Americans want to somehow reach an agreement, they need to resolve all these issues quickly," he said.
"It's a universal principle: if you keep fighting, then you are a terrorist, you will be destroyed. The US position does not play an important role: in this case we are solving problems in Syria for the Syrian people, not for the Americans," Igor Korotchenko concluded.
The chairman of the Advisory Board of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Valery Shnyakin, in his turn, expressed opinion that today "not only actions of the Russian aviation, but the fact of the military, political and technical cooperation of one of the parties with the Russian Federation may affect the military-political situation in the region in the long term". "Naturally, the authority of Russia has grown considerably recently. That's why even this statement will have an effective impact on the hotheads who will continue to violate the ceasefire in Syria," he said.
As for Washington's reaction to the proposal of Moscow, the expert suggested that now "the US strategy is to put a good face on a bad game". "That is, even the American politicians acknowledged that Obama has lost in this region. Of course, there won't be such thing that we have proposed and they immediately drop everything and started to work together. They will wait till the last minute. But the United States will still have to admit that the joint efforts have a greater effect," Valery Shnyakin summed up.
