TEHRAN (FNA)- A prominent Russian analyst said that the decisive battle to free the Northern city of Aleppo in Syria will soon start, adding that a round of hard talks on Syria will pursue the imminent capture of Aleppo.

“I think that the Russian, Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers have also discussed the same issue during their recent meeting in Moscow,” Sergei Markov said in an interview with the Russian Argumenti I Fakti magazine.

“I believe that the operations to regain Aleppo will kick off on November 7 or 8 before Obama leaves power and it will be a blow to the US president by Vladimir Putin before Obama’s departure,” he added.

Noting that media reports are speaking of the US plans in the Middle-East and its attempts to take control of the region, Markov said, “I, personally, believe that this is a big stupidity since the US already is drowning in problems in Syria.”

He referred to Obama’s past remarks who considered overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad as a piece of cake, and said it is not clear who has advised Obama to utter such words “but I believe that they (his advisors) are those who support alliance with Saudi Arabia since Washington entered Syria as Riyadh ally and attacked it to overthrow a government which supports Iran.”

Citing an analysis by a Western intelligence service, UK media reported on Monday that Russia is expected to start a full-scale military operation in Syria’s Aleppo this week to support the government forces.

The Times newspaper, citing the findings of the analysis, said the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, accompanied by seven warships and sailing in the Mediterranean, is expected to reach the Syrian coast between Wednesday and Friday to support the operation.

The media outlet also noted that three Russian submarines armed with cruise missiles are allegedly sailing to the Syrian coast.
A Western intelligence source told the newspaper that Moscow is “on the brink of a major military assault on Aleppo”.

The publication assumes that Moscow seeks to exploit a pause in the United States on the eve of the presidential election in order to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Forces’ secure a decisive victory in the Syrian largest city.

Over the recent months, Aleppo has been a battlefield between government forces and numerous terrorist groups.

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Categories: Escalation / Destabilization Conflict