HANGZHOU,
China – The United States is skeptical
an agreement with Russia to decease violence in Syria can work but will keep
pursuing it nonetheless, President Barack Obama said Sunday as negotiators from
both countries edged toward a deal.
Obama,
speaking on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in China, said the
U.S. and Russia still have "grave differences" about what's needed to
end Syria's civil war and which opposition groups are legitimate targets for
the U.S. and Russian militaries. But he said "it is worth trying" to
secure an agreement nonetheless, adding that negotiators were working
"around the clock."
"We're
not there yet," Obama said. "I think it's premature for us to say
there's a clear path forward, but there's the possibility at least for us to
make some progress."
A deal could
be announced as early as Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said a senior U.S. State Department
official, adding that the two countries were close to a deal but still had to
resolve some issues. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the negotiations
publicly and requested anonymity.
Kerry and
Lavrov have been deep in talks for weeks over a deal to boost U.S. and Russian
military cooperation to fight the Islamic State group and other extremists in
Syria — a step Moscow has long sought. The emerging deal is expected to also
include provisions to ensure aid can reach besieged areas of Syria and steps to
prevent Syrian President Bashar Assad's government from bombing areas where
U.S.-backed rebels are operating.
U.S. officials
have said that as part of a deal, Russia would have to halt offensives by
Assad's government, something it has failed to do over months of diplomatic
efforts. They said the U.S. must get rebels to break ranks with the
al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, a task that grew tougher after Nusra fighters last
month successfully broke the siege of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and the site
of fierce recent fighting.
Though
negotiators have been hopeful a deal could come together while world leaders
are gathered in Hangzhou for the G20, that optimism has been tempered by the
failure of previous ceasefire deals to hold. The U.S. has long been wary of
increasing military coordination with Russia in Syria's civil war because it
says Russia continues striking moderate, U.S.-backed opposition groups in a bid
to prop up Assad. The U.S. wants Russia to focus exclusively on IS and
al-Qaida-linked groups.
Discussions
about the intractable Syria conflict and the related fight against IS have been
a major focus as world leaders gather for the G20, which brings together the
world's major economies. Obama met first Sunday with new British Prime Minister
Theresa May, then with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for their first
sit-down since failed coup in his country in July.
Obama called
the attempted overthrow "terrible." He assured Erdogan that his
national security team and the Justice Department would ensure that those
responsible are brought to justice, a reference to Turkey's extradition request
for an exiled cleric it holds responsible. The U.S. is still weighing Turkey's
evidence for the Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey's
demands for the U.S. to hand over Gulen have coincided with growing clashes
between Turkish forces and U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds. The Pentagon has backed
the incursions, but said they should only be aimed at IS fighters. Turkey has
used the operations to push back Syrian Kurds it accuses of seeking to claim
more territory.
Obama called
Turkey a key ally in the campaign to defeat the Islamic State and said "we
now need to finish the job" of securing Turkey's border with Syria.
Since the
failed coup, the U.S. has been alarmed by Turkey's diplomatic flirtations with
Russia and Syrian President Bashar Assad's patron, and softening of its demand
that Assad be excluded from a political transition.
Erdogan said
it was important for the U.S. and Turkey to "embrace a common attitude
against terrorism." In a reference to Washington's support for the Kurds,
he said there are "no good terrorists or bad; all terrorism is bad."
In his first
meeting with May since she took office in Britain, Obama sought to demonstrate
American solidarity with the U.K. amid the tumult over its decision to leave
the European Union. He and May said their countries would continue an ambitious
trade agenda together, though Obama conceded that Britain's first task was to
figure out its new trade relationship with its EU neighbors.
FOX NEWS
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