The US government memo explicitly said the Russian proposal was not "an outcome" of the Trump-Putin talks. The proposal was sent through communications channel between Russian and US generals in Syria (AFP)Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed Syria and the issue of refugees at a 16 July summit in Helsinki. sloppy analytically," Ford told MEE in April. The former ambassador said that some foreign policy hawks think the troops give Washington leverage to pressure Assad to make concessions in a future political settlement. Still, Robert Ford, US ambassador to Syria from 2010 to 2014, called the American position in Syria "strategically foolish and operationally dangerous" earlier this year. Some US officials believe Syria's dependence on the international community for reconstruction, along with the presence of US and US-backed forces in parts of Syria, gives Washington leverage as diplomats push for a negotiated end to the war. Rebuilding Syria will also be a massive effort, costing at least $250bn, according to one UN estimate. "The United States will only support refugee returns when they are safe, voluntary and dignified," said the memo, which is specifically about the Russian plan for Syria. The Syria conflict has killed an estimated half a million people, driven about 5.6 million people out of the country and displaced 6.6 million within it. Washington has drawn a line on reconstruction assistance, saying it should be tied to a process that includes UN-supervised elections and a political transition in Syria.ĭunford's office declined comment to Reuters on communications with Gerasimov. The United States in 2011 adopted a policy that Assad must leave power. "The proposal argues that the Syrian regime lacks the equipment, fuel, other material and funding needed to rebuild the country in order to accept refugee returns," according to the memo, which said the proposal referred to Syrian government-held areas of the country. Such an effort would likely further cement Assad's hold on power. The proposal illustrates how Russia, having helped turn the tide of the war in favour of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, is now pressing Washington and others to aid with the reconstruction of areas under his control. The United States will only support refugee returns when they are safe, voluntary and dignified. The memo said the US policy was only to support such efforts if there were a political solution to end Syria's seven-year-old civil war, including steps like UN-supervised elections.
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The Russian plan, which has not been previously reported, received an icy reception in Washington. The proposal was sent in a 19 July letter by Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian military's General Staff, to US Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the memo showed.
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Russia has used a closely guarded communications channel with America's top general to propose the two countries cooperate to rebuild Syria and repatriate refugees to the war-torn country, according to a US government memo seen by Reuters.