Russia warns U.S. of the risk of "proxy war" in Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia has warned of the risk of a "proxy war" in the Middle East after the U.S. said it would send special forces to Syria, BBC News reports.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this increased the need for co-operation between the U.S. and Russia.

Lavrov said the U.S. had decided on its move "unilaterally and without any reference to the Syrian leadership". He added: "I am convinced that neither the United States nor Russia of course want any kind of slide into a so-called proxy war. But to me it is obvious that this situation makes the task of co-operation between the militaries even more relevant."

He was speaking after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Vienna.

"Our role fundamentally and the strategy is to enable local forces but does that put U.S. forces in harm's way? It does, no question about it," Defence Secretary Ash Carter later told reporters.

He did not rule out further deployments of special forces to the region, if the initial mission was deemed a success.

For more than a year, U.S.-led coalition forces have been carrying out air strikes against IS, which controls a large part of northern Syria and parts of neighbouring Iraq.

The U.S. recently abandoned its Syria rebel training effort, opting to provide equipment and arms directly to rebel leaders instead.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama wanted to provide additional support for Syrian rebel fighters who had been having success on the battlefield.