No Country Can Use Military Force in Syria without Gov't Approval: Russia

The issue of the use of force in any shape or form without consent of Damascus is unacceptable for us," the diplomat said, when asked about the possibility of a US ground operation there.

"This situation has continued for a long time, and it is one of the topics on which we fundamentally disagree with the United States," he added, noting that instead of complicating the situation further, the US should work jointly with Russia to look for ways of a settlement in Syria, Russia-based TASS news agency reported. 

He made the comments three days after the US military said it mulls ground operations in Iraq and Syria following a failed bid to train Syrian militants.

Speaking to the Senate armed services committee Carter said on Tuesday that the US will support the so-called "moderate Syrian forces" fighting ISIL militants, who have made territorial gains near Raqqa.

He said the US hopes to better equip anti-ISIL forces, further bolster Jordan and intensify the American air campaign with additional US and coalition aircraft to target ISIL with heavier airstrikes.

“In the new train-and-equip effort that we described today, we will look to identify and then support capable and motivated forces on Syrian territory that are willing to take on [ISIL],” Carter said. “We have identified some of them already. And the new approach is to enable them, train them and equip them, rather than trying to create such forces anew, which was the previous approach.”