Russia Says Began Contact with Trump’s Team on Syria

Mikhail Bogdanov expressed the hope on Thursday that the new US administration would adopt a new approach to help resolve the crisis in Syria, Russian news agencies reported.

Moscow welcomes any moves that will restart UN-backed intra-Syrian talks within a framework, which will enable the Syrian people to decide the future of their country, he said.

The Russian official further noted that the Middle East and North Africa are currently grappling with an unprecedented surge in extremism and terrorism fueled by the Western states.

“This situation has been largely prompted by the vicious practice of geopolitical engineering used by some Western countries and accompanied by the interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states,” Bogdanov said, Press TV reported.

Russia has repeatedly warned about the danger of provoking chaos and implementing projects to forcibly change governments, but Western countries do not share Moscow’s position, he added.

Syria has been hit by deadly foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.  Russia and the US have been supporting opposing sides in the conflict in Syria Separately on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser said that a recent phone call between Putin and Trump showed a “shared desire to join efforts in the fight against terrorism” that provides a “good basis for future work on the Syrian problem.”

Yuri Ushakov said that during the conversation, Trump supported Putin’s call for normalizing Washington-Moscow relations.

He further accused US President Barack Obama’s administration of seeking to damage bilateral ties to a degree that would make their future restoration a challenge.