U-Turn in US Policy: Is Washington Set to Reconcile With Assad?

Washington no longer insists on the resignation of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the newspaper wrote.

On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that there could be a possibility of cooperation between the Syrian army and rebel militias in their fight against Daesh terrorists, also known as ISIL or Islamic State.

His statement means that the Americans have indirectly agreed to cooperate with the Syrian President, although their first priority was to overthrow him. Other Western governments also made it clear that the fight against Daesh terrorists for them is of a higher priority than Assad's resignation.

The reason for such a change of course in Washington could be the Russian military operation in Syria. Apparently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov managed to convince the US that the resolution of the conflict is possible only with cooperation between the Syrian army and the official Syrian government, the newspaper reported.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow does not insist on Assad remaining in power. At the same time, he stressed that Assad’s political fate should be decided by the Syrian people in the course of democratic presidential elections.