General Joseph Votel, America's top military commander in the Middle East, says the United States has no plans to work with Russia on the return of refuges to Syria, but Russia's Ministry of Defense claims by denying cooperation, the general is undermining his commander-in-chief.
CNN:
"With his statements, General Votel not only discredited the official position of his supreme commander-in-chief, but also exacerbated the illegality under international law and US law of the military presence of American servicemen in Syria," the Russian Ministry said in a statement published on social media in response to an interview Votel gave to ABC News.
"I would want to make sure that this isn't something that we stepped into lightly," Votel, the commander of US Central Command, said when asked about the idea of the US and Russia working together to facilitate the return of refugees.
"I am not recommending that. And that would be a pretty big step at this point," Votel added.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Friday that Trump and Putin had discussed the issue but had not reached any agreements.
CNN:
"There was a discussion between President Trump and President Putin about the resolution in Syria and how we might get the refugees back. The President shared with me the conversations that they'd had. It is important to the world that at the right time, through a voluntary mechanism, these refugees are able to return to their home country," Pompeo told reporters at the United Nations.
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Votel told reporters at the Pentagon that he had received no new direction following the Trump-Putin meeting and Trump has also appeared to suggest that while many issues related to the region had been discussed, the implementation of any agreements would not take place until a second meeting between Trump and Putin.
The UN estimates that over 5 million Syrians have fled that country since the outbreak of the civil war there in 2011.
On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense James Mattis also confirmed that the US was not cooperating with Russia in Syria while speaking with Pompeo in Palo Alto, California, alongside their Australian counterparts.
"In regard to Syria, what we do with the Russian Federation is we de-conflict our operations, we do not coordinate them," Mattis said.
AFP:
... US defense officials are aghast at the prospect of coordinating with Russia in Syria, where Russia and the US are conducting two separate military campaigns.
Not only would such a move require special permission from Congress, the Pentagon blames Russia for many civilian deaths and contributing to the conditions that caused refugee flows in the first place.
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"We will not be doing anything additional until the Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo) and the president have further figured out at what point we are going to start working, alongside our allies, with Russia in the future," Mattis said ...
"That has not happened yet. And it would be premature for me to go into any more detail at this point, because we're not doing any more than this."
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Congress passed a law banning military-to-military cooperation after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Russia slams US general, says he 'discredited' Trump (CNN)
No military cooperation with Russia in Syria for now: Mattis (AFP)