US: Russia exposed to attacks because of Syria ops

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON

Moscow’s failure to stop slaughter in Syria might expose “Russian interests, perhaps even Russian cities” to extremist attacks, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

As Washington’s demand for an end to violence in Syria is falling on deaf ears at the Kremlin, President Barack Obama’s administration is poised to harshen its tone against Russia.

The dire warning came from State Department spokesman John Kirby who said Russia is responsible for the violence raging in Aleppo.

If Russia does not use its leverage with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the violence, Kirby said, “the consequences are that the civil war will continue in Syria, that extremist groups will continue to exploit the vacuums that are there in Syria, to expand their operations, which will include -- no question -- attacks against Russian interests, perhaps even Russian cities.”

Kirby’s comments came after a phone call between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Kerry told his counterpart the U.S. would suspend all engagement with Russia on Syria talks if Moscow does not immediately stop assaults on Aleppo, Kirby said.

According to the spokesman, there is a lot of incentive for Moscow to heed Kerry’s words, while failure to live up to its commitments would cause Russia to lose big in Syria.

“Russia will continue to send troops home in body bags, and they will continue to lose resources, even perhaps more aircraft,” he said.

Kirby reiterated that the Obama administration still believes in a diplomatic solution to the five-year war, but hinted that other options have also been discussed.

He declined to get into specifics but said options “don't revolve around the act of diplomacy.

“It would be irresponsible for this government not to think about those things and not to try to work through the calculus on other options that are outside diplomacy,” he said.

Since Sept. 19, when the Syrian regime ended a week-long cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia, almost 500 civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in attacks on the war-battered city.