Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday said the majority of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria have not been aimed at terrorist groups – as Moscow claims – but rather at legitimate opposition groups rebelling against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
 
 “To date, the vast majority, in our opinion, have been against legitimate opposition groups, and to adhere to the agreement it made, we think it is critical that Russia’s targeting change,” he said at the Munich Security Conference.
 
“If people who want to be part of the conversation are being bombed, we’re not going to have much of a process,” Kerry added.
 
He also said the Syrian conflict will ultimately come to an end only after Assad is removed from power.
 
On Ukraine, Kerry said debilitating economic sanctions would continue to be levied against Russia until they implement the terms of an agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus, last year.
 
“Russia has a simple choice: fully implement Minsk or continue to face economically damaging sanctions,” he said.
 

Source: The Hill, February 13, 2016