Washington plans to send more troops to Syria, as Moscow says the war is over

Tabnak – Ahead of a new round of talks between the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey on the Syrian crisis, Moscow talks of the end of the war in the Arab country. However, the United States is dispatching more troops to strengthen its position in southeastern Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he believes the foreign-sponsored terrorism in Syria has ended, and that the need to promote the long-lasting settlement of crisis in both the war-ravaged Arab country and the entire Middle East region is highly required.

“The war in Syria has really come to an end. The country is gradually returning to a normal, peaceful life. Some hotspots of tensions remain in the territories that are not controlled by the Syrian government, such as Idlib and the eastern bank of the Euphrates,” Russia’s Sputnik news agency cited Lavrov as saying in an exclusive interview with Russian newspaper the Trud on Thursday.

The top Russian then pointed to the provision of humanitarian aid for affected civilians and “promotion of political process on settling the crisis to achieve stable and long-lasting stabilization of the situation in the country and the whole Middle East region” as the most important issues regarding Syria.

Lavrov added, “We believe the formation and launch of a committee designed to develop the constitutional reform will be an important step in advancing the political process led and carried out by Syrians themselves with the UN assistance.”

“In fact, its convention will enable the Syrian sides – the government and the foreign-sponsored armed opposition – to begin for the first time a direct dialogue on their country's future,” he commented.

Lavrov’s comments come as the Iranian president is going to visit Ankara at the official invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to join the Turkish and Russian presidents for holding a new round of talks on Syria.

Heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, Rouhani will attend the fifth trilateral summit of Iran, Turkey and Russia, the three guarantors of the Astana peace process for the resolution of crisis in Syria, Parviz Esmaili added.

The three leaders will discuss the latest developments in Syria, particularly the issue of Idlib province in the north of the Arab country, during the trilateral summit, both Erdogan and a senior Kremlin aide announced on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is reportedly preparing to send about 150 troops to northeastern Syria to conduct ground patrols with Turkish military forces in a so-called safe zone.

Unnamed US military officials told the New York Times on Thursday that the final approval of the plan awaits the success of the initial joint ground patrols with Turkish troops in the coming days.

The report said the move is part of an expanding series of military and diplomatic steps Washington has taken in recent weeks to defuse escalating tensions with Ankara over American support for militants from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that had been wreaking havoc in the country.