Washington's Stance on Syria Deal: If Something Goes Wrong, Blame Russia

The media outlet added that the Deir ez-Zor attack "opened a new chapter in the Syrian war," prompting many to question "why the United States signed agreements with Russia on joint activities in Syria in the first place."

The deal unveiled on September 9 paved the way for a ceasefire that the Syrian Arab Army declared over on September 19 due to more than 300 violations by US-backed rebel groups. The Deir ez-Zor attack that took place on September 17 did nothing to salvage the deal. 

The US Central Command said that the airstrike was a mistake. If true, "the US essentially admitted that Russia was correct in saying that it is hard to carry out a military campaign in such a complex environment and that jihadists should be divided into those who should not be targeted and those who must be eliminated," the magazine noted.

This issue has been a major stumbling block for Russia and the US as both countries have tried to find a way to defeat terrorist groups and launch the peace process in the war-torn country. Moscow has repeatedly asked Washington to provide a list of so-called moderate groups and persuade them to distance themselves from radicals, but the US has been reluctant to deliver.

"Following a weeklong ceasefire one could confidently say that not many 'moderate' jihadists have remained in Syria," Literární novin observed. "Perhaps, those are the rebels fighting along the Turkish military in northern Syria. But they are definitely not those groups that the West has supported so far. Distinguishing between al-Qaeda and 'our guys' has become increasingly hard and even the West has acknowledged that."

In other words, the United States has failed to fulfil its part of the Lavrov-Kerry deal since moderate and radical groups seem to be actively involved in fighting. This is why US officials blamed Russia and Syria for an attack on a UN humanitarian convoy in Aleppo.

The Russian Defense Ministry denied these allegations, saying that neither Russian, nor Syria aircraft carried out strikes. The Ministry later released a video showing a rebel truck carrying a large-caliber mortar that was part of the convoy. The militants, Russian defense officials said, were using the convoy as a cover.

"The United States does not seem to be as powerful in Syria to 'lay down the rules of the game,' but Washington has enough capabilities to ruin the game for the others," the media outlet noted. "However, it remains uncertain for how long they will manage to do that."

As a result, "the Lavrov-Kerry agreements, due to an extent to the recent blame game, are turning into a mere piece of paper that several days after signing more resemble the Minsk 2 deal," Literární novin concluded.