Kerry: Jabhat al-Nusra plotting terror attacks

After meetings in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced July 15 that the United States and Russia had made progress toward “concrete steps” to restore the fraying cessation of hostilities, collaborate in targeting Jabhat al-Nusra — al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate — and boost talks on a political transition in Syria.

Kerry refused to lay out the details because they “need more work in order to work.” The United States has proposed a plan to set up a Joint Implementation Group with Russia to coordinate airstrikes in Syria in return for Moscow restraining the Syrian government’s air force against Syrian armed groups.

Laura Rozen reports, “The US proposal for deeper US-Russian coordination against Jabhat al-Nusra is controversial within the US administration, with some Pentagon, intelligence and State Department officials expressing doubt the Russians could be trusted to restrain the Syrian regime or not to use the intelligence to target US-backed rebels, given their track record of doing so in the past months.”