Kerry says US weighs Russia offer of military talks on Syria

The Obama administration is weighing an offer from Russia to have military-to-military talks and meetings on the situation in Syria amid increasing US concern and uncertainty about Russian military buildup there, Secretary of State John Kerry says.

Kerry says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed the consultation in a phone call on Tuesday and that the White House, Pentagon and State Department are considering it. Kerry suggested that he favored such an idea, noting that the United States wants a clear picture of what Russia’s intentions are in Syria following a recent military buildup there.

Lavrov proposed a “military-to-military conversation and meeting in order to discuss the issue of precisely what will be done to deconflict with respect to any potential risks that might be run and have a complete and clear understanding as to the road ahead and what the intentions are,” Kerry tells reporters at a joint State Department news conference with South Africa’s foreign minister.

“You have a conversation in order to do that,” Kerry says. “It is vital to avoid misunderstandings, miscalculations (and) not to put ourselves in a predicament where we are supposing something and the supposition is wrong.”

— AP