Russia’s upper house has given consent to use troops outside its territory to fight on Assad’s side against ISIS, as President Obama tells the UN that he will not hesitate to protect his country or allies by force when and where necessary.

“I lead the most powerful military that the world has ever known,” said Obama on September 29th at the 70th UN general assembly in New York.

In new developments, Russia has sent 50 warplanes and helicopters to Syria and conducted eight air attacks on the night of September 30th, reports RT.

Syria has lapsed into a bloody civil war that keeps getting worse in the face of allied air attacks from the UK and US. Millions of refugees are fleeing the country amid attacks from ISIS and government forces. Meanwhile, Russia has been reinforcing its military presence in the country - which it considers an ally - and took over an airbase at Latakia and built up its naval base at Tartus. The first airstrike in Syria took place in the city of Homs, against anti-Assad forces not ISIS forces, according to a report by CNN.

Analysts have been pointing to an imminent clash between the US and Russia over Syria, given that Russian premier Vladimir Putin has supported Syrian president Bashar Assad, who is persona non grata for the US and UK.

After the Duma consented to send Russian troops abroad, the seeds of an escalating world conflict are being sown in Cyprus’ back yard and the Syrian civil war could become much worse if it’s extended outside Syrian territory. Granted, Russia intervened successfully to help the UN remove most of the chemical weapons from Syria, but the consequences of a military buildup by Putin’s troops in Syria are uncertain to say the least.

[tweetthis]The Cyprus govt is bound to face calls on its loyalty from the US and Russia over #Syria[/tweetthis]The government here is bound to face conflicting demands for its loyalty as Russia often uses Limassol Port as a stop-off for its navy, while the US has business interests to protect in the form of energy giant Noble Energy, which is drilling offshore, and political interests in its battle against ISIS.

The obvious answer in this dangerous situation is for Russia and the US to work together to solve the Syrian civil war, but that possibility seems far away given their strained relations ever since Russia re-absorbed Crimea and made threatening moves towards Ukraine.

 

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