Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterparts on the targeting of non-IS targets by Russian forces in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) discussed Russia’s military build-up in Syria with Secretary of State John Kerry at the UN General Assembly last month. Government ministers and officials discuss Syria with their American counterparts on a regular basis, and have shared concerns over Russia’s strikes on non-ISIL targets in Syria. The UK and US, together with France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, issued a statement on 2 October expressing concern about Russian strikes in Syria, calling on Russia to stop attacking the Syrian opposition and civilians, and to focus on fighting ISIL.