US refused to host Russia's mission on Syria: Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov made the comments when speaking at the parliament in the Russian capital, Moscow, on Wednesday, after President Vladimir Putin said he was willing to dispatch a delegation to Washington while criticizing lack of cooperation on the part of the United States on the issue of Syria.
 
Lavrov, meanwhile, said the US has told Russia in an official reply that they cannot “send a delegation to Moscow and they can't host a delegation in Washington either.”
 
'Mush for brains'
 
President Putin said in an address to an investment forum on Tuesday that the Russian mission could include senior military officials as well as members of security services, led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, adding, “It is time to take this work to a serious, substantial level, if we really want to work effectively.”
 
The Russian leader also censured Washington for its mindless policies vis-à-vis Syria.
 
“I believe some of our partners simply have mush for brains,” Putin said, adding that Washington has declined to share intelligence on Syria.
 
Since September 2014, the US and some of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against purported positions of Daesh Takfiri terrorists inside Syria without any authorization from the government in Damascus or a UN mandate.
 
Russia launched its first airstrikes against the positions of the Takfiri terrorists in Syria on September 30 at the request the Syrian government.
 
New airstrikes target more Daesh positions
 
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that its fighter jets have hit 40 positions of Daesh in Syria in new strikes over the past 24 hours. Ammunition depots and training camps were among the targets.
 
The crews of Su-34, Su-24M and Su-25SM warplanes carried out 41 sorties against 40 targets of Daesh in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama and Deir Ezzor, the ministry stated.
 
The sorties are conducted from the Hmeimim air base in Syria’s northwestern province of Latakia.
 
The Russian foreign minister said Moscow and Washington have agreed that their aircraft will stay out of each other's way in the sky to avoid any incidents.
 
“It (the agreement) should become operational literally any day now,” Lavrov said, hoping that all the formalities would be agreed upon on Wednesday.
 
Lavrov had earlier questioned the effectiveness of the mission of the so-called anti-Daesh US-led coalition in Syria in remarks to Russian channel NTV, stating that Moscow has “very few specifics which could explain what the US is exactly doing in Syria and why the results of so many combat sorties are so insignificant.”
 
Daesh, with members from several Western countries, has been active in Iraq and Syria for over a year now, committing heinous acts of terror and atrocities.