John Kerry Calls Russia To Debate Its Presence In Syria

There was one phone call on Saturday to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, which exposed the US Secretary of State John Kerry's concern. Russia's military buildup in Syria, according to CNN.

The worry was triggered by leaked intelligence reports revealing Russia's growing presence in Syria. Lavrov will drop into New York later this month, and will take the issue forward.

Such a buildup "could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIS Coalition operating in Syria," the State Department wrote.

The Syrian state television has revealed Russian soldiers and armored vehicles battling Syrian rebels along with President Bashar al-Assad's troops in Latakia. While rumours of Russia's presence here has been rife, this would be the first troops fighting on the front line.

President Vladimir Putin talked about Russia's role, according to The Inquisitr. "To say we're ready to do this today - so far it's premature to talk about this," he said. "But we are already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons. We really want to create some kind of an international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism."

"To this end, we hold consultations with our American partners - I have personally spoken on the issue with U.S. President Obama," Putin added, according to hngn.