Ground operation in Syria will lead to 'a full-fledged, long war,' Russian PM says

Reuters ^ | February 14th, 2016 | by Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Katya Golubkova

[Mariner]

Any ground operation in Syria will lead to "a full-fledged, long war", Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Euronews TV station in an interview.

Major powers agreed on Friday in Munich to a pause in combat in Syria, which killed at least 250,000 people. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that if the peace plan fails, more foreign troops could enter the conflict.

Commenting on Kerry's words, Medvedev said: "These are futile words, he should not have said that for a simple reason: if all he wants is a protracted war, he can carry out ground operations and anything else. But don’t try to frighten anyone."

U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out sending U.S. ground troops to Syria, but Saudi Arabia this month offered ground forces to fight Islamic State.

"Let me reiterate that no one is interested in a new war, and a ground operation is a full-fledged, long war," Medvedev said, according to a transcript of the interview with Euronews that was distributed by his office.

[armydawg505]

Exactly, there has been no pauses anywhere.

[MSF BU]

They’ll do it with far fewer casualties on their side than we will. This is a good thing.