U.S. Warns Russia Over Military Support for Assad

Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart on Saturday that the United States was deeply concerned by reports that the Kremlin may be planning to vastly expand its military support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, warning that such a move might even lead to a “confrontation” with the American-led coalition. The State Department warning that a major Russian deployment might “risk confrontation,” officials said, pointed to the danger that Russian airstrikes might interfere with the air operations that the United States and its partners are carrying out in Syria, or the possibility that Russian aircraft or Russian-backed Syrian government forces might attack opposition groups Washington is supporting.