Syrian war

Russian, US interests in Syria differ, but cooperation is necessary to fight terrorism – CIA chief

CIA director Mike Pompeo downplayed Russian involvement in Syria, while acknowledging it has “fundamentally changed the landscape.” Pompeo expressed hope in finding common ground in fighting terrorism, despite conflicting interests.

US-Russian relations cannot be unambiguously characterized, the US intelligence chief said at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday. While stating that the landscape in Syria has “fundamentally changed” since Russia entered into the country, he said that its interests are not the same as America’s.

“We certainly are trying to find places where we can work alongside the Russians, but we don’t have the same set of interest there. So from intelligence perspective, we’re staring at the places we can find to achieve American outcomes in Syria – the things in our country’s best interest and not in theirs,” Pompeo told New York Times columnist Bret Stephens at the forum in Aspen, Colorado.