McCain Says Syrian Truce Unlikely, Blames Putin for Refugees

He repeated allegations that Russian airstrikes in Syria have not been directed at terrorists but rather at moderate opposition groups supported by the USA and its European and Arab partners.

“I wish I could share the views of some of my friends who see this agreement as a potential breakthrough but unfortunately I do not”, McCain, who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at the Munich Security Conference.

But the collisions occur whenever President Vladimir Putin has chose to expand Russian influence. The claim was rejected by the Russian side.

“He’s deluded if he thinks that there’s a military solution to the conflict in Syria”, deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

World powers on Friday announced an ambitious plan to stop fighting in Syria within a week, but doubts have emerged over its viability, especially because it did not include ISIS or the militant organisation Al-Qaeda’s local branch.

The conflict in Ukraine needs to be regulated by the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, the prime minister said, RIA Novosti reported. “I don’t see any”.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who negotiated the deal with Lavrov and others, said after Lavrov’s pessimistic assessment about the proposed truce that “we will, we will make it work”.

In another segment of his speech, Medvedev criticized the refusal of the West to cooperate with Russian Federation in the fight against terrorism.

The Kremlin confirmed Mr Putin had a telephone conversation with Mr Obama about the Syrian war, stating the call took place at Washington’s initiative.

“In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russian Federation playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria”.

He called for sanctions on Russian Federation implemented after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 to be lifted, saying they were “a road that leads nowhere”.

Last week, the prime minister said there was a danger of the war in Syria becoming a “permanent war” in an interview with the German newspaper “Handelsblatt”.

Meanwhile, government forces have reportedly captured Tamopura, another village near Aleppo, as they tighten their grip around rebel-held parts of the country’s biggest city.

The US urged Turkey to stop the shelling and focus on fighting the group Islamic State (IS).

They are also close to sealing the Turkish border, a lifeline for rebel territory for years.