WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Washington should cooperate with Moscow on the settlement of the Syrian crisis, basing on the agreement on establishing safe zones in southwestern Syria, Stuart Jones, the former US ambassador to Jordan and Iraq under the administration of then-President Barack Obama, said.
"I think that the deconfliction zones that have been established in southwestern Syria are having an effect and I think we have created a positive model for future cooperation. I also think that this holds the Russians to a certain standard of behavior and also highlights their responsibility to deliver a performance of their Iranian and Hezbollah partners in Syria," Jones said at a hearing in US Senate on Thursday.
Russia is a guarantor state of ceasefire regime in Syria along with Iran and Turkey and has been conducting a counterterrorist operation in the country since September 2015 under the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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Armed conflict in Syria has been ongoing since March 2011. Russia has conducted an operation against the Daesh terrorist group since September 2015 at the request of official Damascus. The US has been conducting military operation in Syria since 2014 against the Daesh terrorist group without the consent of the country's authorities.
On Monday, following the announcement of the defeat of the Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia) on both banks of the Euphrates river in Syria, Putin ordered the withdrawal of the main part of the Russian forces, with the bases in Hmeimim and Tartus continuing their operation.
