The United States ceased cooperation with Russia on Syria. One can only guess where this decision will lead in the distant future, but some moments are clear now: an escalation of the Syrian conflict is inevitable, and the indirect war between Moscow and Washington takes on real shape.
It is worth noting that Russian-US cooperation on the Syrian issue actually ceased even before the official statement of State Department spokesman John Kirby, made on Monday. In fact, the starting point of the stagnation of bilateral contacts was the bombing of the so-called "anti-Igilov" coalition, led by the United States with the positions of the SAR army, which killed 62 servicemen.
The current attacks on Russia, ostensibly not in compliance with its obligations, appear to be not a very successful attempt by Washington to shift from a sick head to a healthy one and to justify its own failed campaign against terrorist groups. Recall that, invading two years ago in violation of all norms of international law in Syria, the States declared war on the Islamic radicals who invaded the territory of the Arab state. Even then it was clear that a crusade against terrorists was nothing more than a cover for military intervention aimed at overthrowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Making a bet on the “moderate opposition” units, acting hand in hand with the “Islamic State” and “Dzhebhat an Nusroy” (the activities of both terrorist organizations are prohibited in Russia), the Americans hoped that the militants would succeed in destroying the current government. The fact that the aforementioned criminal groups coordinated their actions with the West is testified to, among other things, by the substantial strengthening of their positions during the year of the coalition operation.
However, the intervention of Moscow in the conflict and the successful actions of the Russian videoconferencing, aimed at the destruction of extremists in the region, prevented the United States from fully implementing its plans.
Nowadays, overseas, they finally realized that the armed forces under their control are not coping with the task set under the onslaught of the Syrian troops, and the anti-Russian propaganda unleashed in the Western media and numerous provocations do not bring the proper result.
In this situation, a demonstrative cessation of cooperation with the Russian side may be a prerequisite for the United States to more actively support the “moderate” opposition and, consequently, terrorist organizations. After getting rid of the shackles of a diplomatic settlement, Washington can begin full-fledged deliveries of lethal weapons, primarily various air defense systems, to its Islamic radical partners, as well as inflict air strikes on official Damascus positions.
It is not excluded that the States expect to start a mediated war with Moscow on the territory of the SAR by the hands of militants. I remember a recent statement by the same John Kirby, in which he predicts terrorist attacks in Russian cities and military aircraft shot down in Syria.
In principle, all the prerequisites for such a scenario are there, and it is perplexing to shrug and complain about the merger of opposition fighters with terrorist formations that the inhabitants of the White House can do like no other. Moscow, in turn, is ready to adequately respond to any change in the situation and continue fighting against the terrorists, under whose “roof” they may be.