The US is preparing a large-scale operation aimed at toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and replacing him with a pro-American puppet regime, Russian Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee, believes.
"The United States is making efforts to seize the strategic initiative in Syria by carrying out a 'color revolution' with the assistance of the armed forces; [they] are preparing an attack on Damascus to oust the current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and install a submissive leadership in [Syria's] government," Morozov told RIA Novosti.
On May 18 the US-led coalition attacked pro-Assad fighters near the town of al-Tanf within the area of an established deconfliction zone with Russia.
On June 6, the coalition conducted yet another strike on the pro-SAA forces in the same zone. According to the Pentagon, the pro-Assad fighters posed a considerable threat to its personnel on the ground.
"While declaring its aim as the fight against international terrorism, the coalition carries out strikes against Syrian troops, lets Daesh militants out of encirclement areas, thus, strengthening terrorist units near Palmyra and Deir ez-Zor," chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said, commenting on the coalition's moves.
The Russian General Staff highlighted that the SAA's advance in the south of Syria was countered by the US-led coalition's aircraft, which violates the sovereign right of Damascus to guard the country's borders.
"At the moment, we are seeing that the actions of the [US-led] coalition only hamper the destruction of Daesh units by the [Syrian] government forces," Rudskoy added.
He noted that the US-led coalition launched military strikes against pro-government forces every time Damascus reached agreements on a peaceful settlement in the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR).
"The US has carried out training shots, their next strike will be much more powerful," Morozov suggested. "After that, the US is likely to announce an operation against Damascus. To accomplish this task they are mobilizing and amassing combat units of the armed opposition, including US troops in Jordan, in the zone of the American information center."
According to Morozov, Washington is preparing the ground for a new "color revolution" in Syria which will be carried out as a military operation involving ground and air forces.
Maxim Suchkov, a Valdai Discussion Club member and editor of Al-Monitor's Russia-Mideast coverage also believes that Washington aims to crack down against Bashar al-Assad and Tehran. However, according to the journalist, it may deepen the rift between the US and Russia in Syria.
"The problem is that the strikes were conducted in the 'de-escalation zone,' which undermines the Russian initiative, which Washington supported during the last telephone conversation between [Russian President Vladimir Putin] and [US President Donald] Trump," Suchkov told RIA Novosti.
Suchkov also noted that some observers believe that the attacks of the US-led coalition were an attempt to exert some pressure on Russia regarding the formation of "safe zones" in the south of Syria.
In any event, as the journalist pointed out, these moves are only complicating the Russo-American dialogue on Syria.
