Saturday, August 4th., 2018 Russian general Gerasimov offers US' Dunford to cooperate on rebuilding Syria, repatriating refugees

Saturday, August 4th., 2018

Russian general Gerasimov offers US' Dunford to cooperate on rebuilding Syria, repatriating refugees

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 14:58 UTC

© USN PO1C Dominique A. Pineiro / Reuters
Gen. Joe Dunford (left) and Gen. Valery Gerasimov (right), Helsinki, Finland, June 8, 2018

Major international media have reported that Russia's Armed Forces' Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov has contacted his US counterpart Joseph Dunford with a proposal.

According to reports citing a US government memo, the Russian military has supposedly offered the US military to cooperate in rebuilding the devastated Syrian nation.

If the memo and reports are true, then Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, contacted United States General Joseph Dunford, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on July 19, offering Russian cooperation in the reconstruction of Syria and in the repatriation of refugees to the Arab country.

This is the first time such a proposal has been reported, but details have not yet been released.

Comment: While unconfirmed, the terms of the memo are plausible and reflect the Russian approach to diplomacy. While they have every opportunity to throw the U.S. to the wolves by exposing U.S. collusion with radical jihadists, the Russian approach is to always leave the door open for cooperation, to let bygones be bygones, even to let the U.S. participate in the benefits (material and in terms of public image) of victory. But the U.S. is stubborn, as the memo also suggests: they will only cooperate once every last chance of subversion is gone, i.e., when the war is 'over'. But the war will only be over once the U.S. stops supporting 'opposition' in the form of jihadists and the Kurds. But even then, Russia will probably keep this offer on the table, because peace is the best outcome, even if one must swallow their pride to make it happen.

Update: The Russian MoD has now commented, blaming Washington for the leak:

The Russian offer, passed on through a confidential communication channel between the militaries of the two nations, was initially reported by Reuters on Sunday after the agency obtained a US government memo about it.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has now confirmed that a proposal to join efforts in Syria was sent by the chief of the Russian General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Marine General Joseph Dunford, in mid-July.

Regarding the leak, Moscow said "the inability of the US side to comply with the agreement on publicizing the contacts [between the two militaries] only with the consent of both sides is disappointing."

"We expect that the US side will be able to take the necessary measures to prevent further violations of mutual agreements in the future."

The Russian MoD also expanded on the content of its offer. Moscow is open "to work with the Syrian authorities on providing security guarantees to the refugees from the Rukban camp in the US-controlled area of al-Tanf and creating necessary conditions for their return home."

The defense ministry also said it is prepared to "coordinate the issues of humanitarian demining, including in Raqqa," as well as addressing other humanitarian issues. The joint work would serve to establish a return to peaceful life in Syria as well as curbing attempts by terrorists to find recruits.

Moscow again underlined the importance of the secure communication channel with Washington on Syria, saying that it "helps [in] preventing incidents between our armed forces and finding mutually acceptable solutions [to pressing issues], taking into account the interests of both countries."

The Russian proposal "received an icy reception in Washington," Reuters reported.

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