#Syria UPDATE: 1. So, it appears #Russia, #US working on de-escalation options now via a number of "middle men". RUS military stated earlier it's been in touch w/ American Joint Chief of Staff over the issue & there're Rus-#NATO communication/talks via #Turkey military.
2.#Putin spoke on the phone w/ #Netanyahu earlier today. #Russia Prez said #Syria sovereignty should be respected, urged to refrain from actions that "could further destabilize the situayion in the country." #Israel's PM stood the ground on #Iran's prwsence in SYR as unacceptable
3. In #Moscow rumors have it #Netanyahu playing important intermediary role b/n #Putin & #Trump now, (an option #Russia has long been favoring) but no details on how big his role is. Anyways, some kind of deal to deconflict is being attempted
4.Yet #Russia still sees #US strikes on #Syria as highly probable.MoD prepared a menu of potential responses.Brilliant guys @kommersant led by @ElenaChernenko report Rus navy closed off access area at SYR shores for drills on Apr 11–12,17–19 & 25–26 from 10-6 pm Moscow time
5.@kommersant also reports #Russia navy in Mediterranean is now at 15 Black Sea Fleet combat ships & supply modules.Besides,antisub patrol aircrafts Il-38H been recently deployed; S400, Pantsir-S1(NATO name SA-22 Greyhound) put on station to defend Hmeymim & Tartus.
6. Finally, #Russia/n party expects #Pentagon pass #Moscow coordinates of precise targets #US seeks to strike "to theoretically avoid loses of Rus military that are present at dozens of #Syria/n military facilities", otherwose, Rus MoD warned "consequences may be catastrophic"
7. Full report (in RUS) by @ElenaChernenko is available here: kommersant.ru/doc/3600193 I will be meeting #NATO officials + individual member states' reps tomorrow, so will summarize the views and the mood from the other side tomorrow. Hopefully this all can be settled smoothly
Short THREAD on #Russia - #Turkey divergences over #Idlib as seen from #Moscow: 1. In early August I described rationale behind RU positon & that "certain level of understanding reached w/ TUR that there should be no [large-scale] offensive on Idlib [then]"almon.co/338t
2.I recently reached out to the same senior RUS diplomat who reiterated #Moscow's bottom-line desire to settle the issue peacefully except for terrorists organization who he argued #Turkey too agreed to fight as part of AStana agreements.Yesterday,RU #Syria envoy Lavrentyev..
3. .alluded to #Russia's growing displease w/ #Ankara's inability to deliver upon its committments in the area that, as Lavrentyev said"is kind of their zone of responsibility."Instead,#Erdogan writing op-eds,trying to enlist support from #West/ern partners over #Idlib which is..
..the idea for the summit was to get a deal where all the 3 can secure their bottom-line interests.They didn't fully achieve it since there will be another round of trilateral talks (some time in the future in #Russia) and the parties hope to settle #Idlib issue in #Tehran but..
..(a) #Turkey maintained credibility of the oppoaition (by that good cop-bad cop thing #Erdogan & #Putun played), (b) #Russia got his promise to deal w/ those attacking #Hmeymim (c) #Ankara received time to settle the major task of assorting militants (d)..
#Lavrov now: De-confliction b/n #Russia & #US in #Syria wotking wrll, when there's a need Americans turn to us for explanations of certain things and we do the same
#Lavrov now: When we intervened in #Syria in Sep'15 #ISIS wad at the gates of #Damascus. Not a single power that are today raising voices about humanity, rights, etc moved their finger to prevent #Daesh from almost capturing the city & making it the capital of their caliphate
#Lavrov on @realDonaldTrump tweet on #Idlib: #Trump's right-we need to avoid a humanitarian crisis there. That's what we always try to do w/ humanitarian corridors & other coverups for civilians unlike Americans,say,in #Raqqa who just ironed the city. Now they want to cover Nusra
This mistake (or, again, was it intentional #fakenews frill?) set a line of reports that "#Russia reveals..." which is not the case. The info was allegedly LEAKED by two Rus diplomats to @business bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The proposal on #Donbass appears to have indeed been made by #Putin,the info was not supposed to be disclosed until #Trump discussed it with his team. One may not like the proposal itself, but that it's now disclosed is bad for solution of the issue,courtesy of presidential talks
Antonov adds,another group of #US lawmakers are planning to visit #Russia following a rare trip to #Moscow by Republican members of #Congress this month.The Ambassador noted, however,there was little chance of a trip by Russian lawmakers to #America before congressional elections
Antonov: Politicians in #Washington are very far from the people. What they are doing doesn't meet interests of American people.
3. #Putin & #Trump will be meet face-to-face around noon (1pm #Moscow time). The leaders have at least 3 hours scheduled for themselves after which they will proceed to another room for working lunch in a broader format with ministers and advisers.