WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart on Saturday that the United States is deeply concerned by reports that the Kremlin may be planning to vastly expand its military support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the State Department said.
Mr. Kerry called Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov “to discuss Syria, including U.S. concerns about reports suggesting an imminent enhanced Russian military buildup there,” the State Department said in a statement.
“The secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria,” the State Department said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.
The statement did not say if Mr. Lavrov responded to Mr. Kerry’s concerns or provided any indication of Russia’s intentions. But it noted that the two diplomats planned to continue their discussions in New York later this month, when the United Nations General Assembly meets.
Russia has sent a military advance team to Syria and has transported prefabricated housing units for hundreds of people at an airfield near Latakia, according to American intelligence analysts. Russia has also delivered a portable air traffic station to the airfield and has filed military overflight requests through September.
While American officials have said they are not sure of Moscow’s intentions, they say the airfield could be used to transport military supplies for the Assad government or to carry out Russian airstrikes to help Syrian government troops.
The prefabricated housing could accommodate as many as 1,000 Russian military advisers and other personnel, according to American officials, and some warned that the eventual Russian deployment might be even larger.
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