WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — In a statement on his campaign web site on Friday, Kasich claimed the Russian airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria were a threat to civilians, refugees and regional stability.
"Russia’s recent military build-up and intervention in Syria are neither intended to defeat ISIS [Islamic State] nor to relieve the suffering of Syrian refugees," Kasich claimed.
Kasich repeated his call for the United States to contribute to a regional coalition of ground troops to defeat the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s real goals are quite different: to take military action to rescue [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s criminal government from its death and to strengthen Russia’s strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean. This is unacceptable and must stop," Kasich said.
His comments came the morning after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called on Thursday night on the US government to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria. However, Support for a no fly zone remains very weak among the US public.
Russia recognizes the government of President Assad as the legitimate authority in Syria and has stated it has militarily supported it to fight Islamic State and other extremists.
Moreover, Moscow has denied US claims that civilians were killed in its first airstrikes against Islamic State forces.
The Obama administration continues to reject the idea of trying to impose a no-fly zone over Syria. In 2013, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey stated that trying to impose a no-fly zone over Syria could cost a billion dollars per month.
