'Russia won't hold out long in Syria over Assad'

A senior US administration official says Russia will not be able to hold out long in Syria with “no future” for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Arab country.

Quoting several administration officials, CNN reported Thursday that no ambiguity remains about Russia’s strategy in Syria. According to the report, President Barack Obama's administration assessment is that Russia is seeking to take over the airspace in the region and be the agenda-setting force on the ground.

"The Russians can't be stupid," said a senior administration official. "This is going to be wildly expensive. And they can't hold out long.”

“They know in the end there is no future for the guy (Assad) because the whole reason they had to come in is because Assad and his forces were extremely vulnerable,” said the official.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity called on Russians “to come to their senses, stabilize the situation and then we can agree on the Assad piece."

Russia launched airstrikes against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists near the city of Homs on Wednesday after US refused to comply with Moscow’s demand to take its warplanes out of Syria.

Another official, however, described Russia airstrikes against Daesh in Syria as a “strategic blunder”.

CNN also quoted an unnamed official as saying that Washington has no plans to cede Russia any ground. He said it appears that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a dramatic chess move that the Russians have not thought through.

On Thursday, the administration launched talks through video teleconference with Moscow military officials.

Although Putin has assured that Russian warplanes were targeting ISIL terrorists, the White House says it could not confirm who the Russian military forces are targeting inside Syria. 

"We don't believe that they struck ISIL targets, so that's a problem," military spokesman Col. Steve Warren, speaking from Baghdad, told reporters in a briefing on Thursday. 

In the wake of Russia's airstrikes in Syria, Pentagon officials called on Moscow to focus its attacks on Daesh terrorists rather than "opponents" of Assad, ABC News quoted another administration official.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011.Ever since, Syrian forces have been battling ISIL terrorists on different fronts throughout the Arab country.

The US and some of its regional allies have also been engaged in airstrikes purportedly against ISIL terrorists.

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