Russia and the United States are not allies, despite the fact that in certain areas their interests coincide. This was stated by National Security Advisor to the President of the United States of America Robert O'Brien during an interview on the NBC News channel on the alleged removal of the US military leader “Islamic State” * Abu Bakra al-Baghdadi.

“Let me state in all clarity: Russia is not an ally of the United States. That’s the president’s opinion, and so I think, ”said O'Brien.

However, the NBC News host asked why Trump was the first in his press conference after eliminating Baghdadi who thanked Russia specifically.

O'Brien noted that you should not pay so much attention to the order of states. He emphasized that American helicopters had to fly over the airspace of various parties involved in the Syrian conflict, and Washington “appreciates” the fact that they were allowed to get to the goal.

“They had to fly over areas where a significant amount of air defense systems were deployed: Syrian, Turkish and others. In this regard, I think we really appreciate the fact that our helicopters and planes were not fired upon, ”said Robert O'Brien in an interview with NBC News.

The President’s National Security Advisor added that sometimes the interests of the United States and Russia intersect, including when it comes to fighting ISIS.

“Last night they coincided. We did not want Russian defensive rockets to be fired at our military personnel who carried out this raid ... In addition, as the president noted, they do not like ISIS. When the interests of the United States and Russia intersect, there is no reason to refuse to cooperate. Meanwhile, Russia is not an ally of the United States and poses a great threat to our country, ”said O'Brien.

There is nothing new in the statement by the US President’s adviser on national security, said Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt US Studies Foundation at Moscow State University in an interview with RT.

“The fact that the United States and Russia are not allies is a fact. The military of the two countries operates in Syria in parallel, but at the same time they coordinate actions to a certain extent so as not to create dangerous situations. Naturally, this is not an allied relationship, ”said Rogulev.

In an interview with RT, Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts at RUDN University, emphasized that with his statement, Trump's adviser wants to protect the president from additional criticism due to positive feedback from Russia.

“It seems to me that Robert O'Brien is now just trying to play for an internal audience, for Trump’s main opponents, who criticize him for his decisions on Syria, to reduce criticism and not to connect the American leader directly with the Kremlin,” the political scientist explained.

  • Donald Trump Conference on the Elimination of al-Baghdadi
  • Reuters
  • © Jim Bourg

Differences in testimony

Recall that during his press conference in the White House on October 27, Donald Trump said that his administration allegedly warned Russia about the operation to eliminate al-Baghdadi.

“We informed them of the upcoming raid. They replied: "Thank you for warning." We said that they would like this operation too. They hate ISIS no less than us. You know how much damage the Islamic State has done to Russia. The Russian side did not know the details of the mission, but we notified it that we would fly over territories where it has significant firepower, ”said the US President.

Despite such a confident statement from Trump, the Russian Defense Ministry soon announced that the Russian side did not know anything about the “assistance” that it allegedly provided to the US military.

"We are not aware of any alleged assistance to the flight of American aviation into the airspace of the Idlib de-escalation zone during this operation," said Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Russian defense department emphasized that "the increase in the number of direct participants and countries that allegedly took part in this" operation ", as well as conflicting information about the details of its operation," raise reasonable questions and doubts about its reality, and even more so about success. "

Nikita Danyuk in an interview with RT noted that the whole situation with the elimination of al-Baghdadi resembles a similar operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden by the US military in 2011.

“The Americans knew perfectly well where Baghdadi was located, understood that this person was rather vulnerable. This situation is reminiscent of bin Laden’s removal, which Pakistani intelligence has been watching over at the request of the United States. The order to liquidate it was issued at a time that at that time allowed Obama to gain political points. In this case, Trump, based on his domestic political dispositions, did the same, ”the expert explained.

  • US military in Syria
  • AFP
  • © Delil Souleiman

Political motivation

Experts note that the sudden discovery and liquidation of al-Baghdadi followed the decisions of the Trump administration regarding the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. On October 7, Donald Trump announced that US Army soldiers would leave the north of the SAR.

This decision was made two days before the start of the Turkish Armed Forces operation "Source of Peace", the purpose of which was to create a border security zone in northern Syria, free from armed groups of the Kurds, whom Ankara considers terrorists. At the same time, the United States has long supported various Kurdish associations, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the region was presented by his opponents from the Democratic Party as a “betrayal” of Washington’s allies.

However, on October 21, Pentagon chief Mark Esper said the United States would leave part of the US military contingent in northeastern Syria to prevent a possible transfer of oil fields in the region to IS control.

At the same time, the issue of stabilizing the situation on the Syrian-Turkish border was resolved at the level of the heads of Russia and Turkey. On October 22, Sochi held talks between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following the meeting, a memorandum was adopted, which contained decisions aimed at resolving the situation in northern Syria.

Yuri Rogulev in an interview with RT noted that such a sequence of events paints an obvious picture - the elimination of al-Baghdadi took Trump to improve his image after an unpopular decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

“This, first of all, was necessary for Trump himself, because criticism fell upon him because of his position on Syria, for the desire to withdraw troops. He had to reverse and leave part of the troops. The United States decided to conduct this operation in order to demonstrate that they are committed to continuing a serious fight against ISIS, which fits into Trump’s election plans, ”the expert explained.

This opinion is shared by Nikita Danyuk. According to him, Washington’s statements on the elimination of al-Baghdadi are an attempt to divert public attention from fruitful negotiations between Putin and Erdogan, as well as from an unpopular decision to withdraw the contingent and renounce their obligations regarding the Kurds to their own successes in the fight against IS in Syria.

“These decisions caused serious image damage to America, in particular to Trump, so he became the object of criticism both for his opponents and for a significant part of the Republican Party. In addition, Trump is now simultaneously demonstrating that he is the main architect of the victory over the IG, because the leader was liquidated by his order. The US leader loves to use this kind of political success in order to earn points on the eve of the upcoming elections, ”the political scientist said.

Trump’s attempts to thank Russia are motivated by a desire to demonstrate that the United States is a negotiable country, says Nikita Danyuk. However, in the United States such statements are almost perceived as a betrayal of national interests, so the national security adviser has to "make excuses" for the president.

“Inside the United States, signals of this kind are perceived extremely painfully because there is a strong anti-Russian consensus in Washington. If any politician, and even more so the president, begins to speak neutrally with regard to Russia and Putin, then this already becomes another reason to launch a company to discredit, in this case Trump, and again link him to the Kremlin, ”the expert concluded.

* “Islamic State” (ISIS, ISIS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.