Is the Whitehouse’s decision to reject the Kremlin’s offer for talks on the Russian campaign in Syria against ISIL (ISIS) a smart move?

2015-10-15T09:36:38-04:00

Amid growing friction over Russian airstrikes in Syria that began Sept. 30, the U.S. rejected Putin’s offer to send a delegation led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Washington to explain the campaign against Islamic State and other militants, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. Putin accused some states of having “oatmeal in their heads” on Tuesday for failing to understand that Russia’s intervention seeks to defeat terrorism. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed “regret” on Wednesday over the American rejection of high-level talks.

“We’ve said that we’re not interested in doing that as long as Russia is not willing to make a constructive contribution to our counter-ISIL effort,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday, using an acronym for Islamic State. “Russia has their own agenda and it’s an agenda right now that they’re pursuing on their own.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-15/putin-says-u-s-position-on-syria-is-weak-lacks-objectives

Putin Calls U.S. `Weak' on Syria as Russian Airstrikes Continue

Russian President Vladimir Putin continued a war of words with the U.S. over Syria, calling its policy weak and lacking in objectives as his air force carried out fresh bombing raids in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2015 10:00 AM

2015-10-15T10:00:43-04:00

Well ... I don't think the current admin will be able to get anything out of the Krelmin anyway.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2015 10:09 AM

2015-10-15T10:09:05-04:00

I think we should always talk. We should talk with our allies, we should talk with neutrals and yes, we should talk with out enemies.

So yes, it was foolish to reject talks.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Oct 15 at 2015 11:16 AM

2015-10-15T11:16:49-04:00

What purpose does it serve to reject Putin's offer? Ultimately, one must ask: What is President Obama afraid of?