PRESS RELEASE

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Putin Commends Kerry, Says U.S.-Russia Agreement Is Possible Soon, If U.S. Breaks from Jihadis

Sept. 2, 2016 (EIRNS)—Talks between Russia and the United States are "gradually, gradually" moving "in the right direction" toward an agreement over Syria, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg news at the start of the Eastern Economic Forum. But,"the negotiations are very difficult," because Russia insists that the "so-called healthy part of the Syrian opposition" should be separated from the terrorist organizations such as Jabhat al Nusra—which has merely taken a new name, while "nothing has changed" in the brutal terrorist nature of the group.

[Russia and the UN Security Council—with the agreement of the United States—has Al Nusra on the same terrorist list in Syria as the Islamic State, but the Saudi-backed group changed its name in a phony renunciation of its ties to Al Qaeda.]

The need for this separation, Putin said, is "not denied by our American partners," but "they do not know how" to bring this about. Indeed, even as Putin was giving the interview, State Dept. spokesman John Kirby was admitting at the State Dept. to the "marbling" of the terrorists with the U.S. backed opposition. Putin said the jihadis are not a real opposition, but are "alien fighters, who receive arms and ammunition from abroad."

Putin had praise for the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry who "did a great job" in the still-ongoing talks with Russia, and whose "patience and persistence" surprised him.

"I don’t rule out that we’ll be able to agree on something in the near future and present our agreements to the international community."