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Oxford, England • U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter accused Russia on Wednesday of sowing seeds of global instability and questioned whether Moscow genuinely wants a cease-fire in Syria.

In a hard-hitting speech at Oxford University, Carter emphasized deep skepticism about Russian intentions in Syria, even as Secretary of State John Kerry weighed more talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva. Their discussions last weekend, on the sidelines of an economic summit in China, failed to produce a nationwide cease-fire in Syria or a U.S.-Russian military-cooperation agreement.

Russia is a firm supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and their joint military operation has sometimes targeted the anti-Islamic State rebels backed by the Obama administration. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Kerry and Lavrov would hold their next round of negotiations Thursday and Friday. But U.S. officials indicated the earliest the talks could happen is Friday.

"Unfortunately so far, Russia, with its support for the Assad regime, has made the situation in Syria more dangerous, more prolonged and more violent. That has contributed to what President Obama this weekend called the 'gaps of trust' that exist between our two countries," Carter said.

In last weekend's talks, top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia, as well as President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, struggled to keep alive negotiations to end the bloodshed between U.S.-backed rebels and Syria's government. Obama expressed skepticism that an unlikely alliance between rivals would yield the breakthrough needed to end the 5-year-old civil war.

Carter urged the Russians to work with the U.S. toward a political transition in Syria, though he sounded less than optimistic. "Today's news out of Syria is not encouraging," he said. "The choice is Russia's to make and the consequences will be its responsibility."

Intense fighting between Syrian government troops and insurgents in Syria's central Hama province displaced about 100,000 people over eight days between late August and early September, the U.N.'s humanitarian agency reported Wednesday.

"Despite the progress that we made together in the aftermath of the Cold War, Russia's actions in recent years — with its violations of Ukrainian and Georgian territorial integrity, its unprofessional behavior in the air, in space and in cyberspace, as well as its nuclear saber rattling — all have demonstrated that Russia has clear ambition to erode the principled international order," Carter said.

Carter accused Russia of being driven by "misguided ambition and misplaced fear." He said Moscow understandably wants to be seen as an important world power but is undercutting its case by sabotaging the work of others.

"It lashes out, alleging that it fears for its own viability and future," even though it should know that no country, including the U.S., is trying to constrain its potential.

He seemed to allude also to suspected Russian involvement in hacking Democratic National Committee computers in the United States and otherwise trying to influence the U.S. presidential election.

"Let me be clear, the United States does not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia. We don't seek an enemy in Russia. But make no mistake — we will defend our allies, the principled international order and the positive future it affords all of us. We will counter attempts to undermine our collective security. And we will not ignore attempts to interfere with our democratic processes."

Asked later at his news conference what he meant by Russian interference in "our democratic processes," Carter said he was referring to what some call Russia's use of hybrid warfare — "interference in the internal affairs of nations, short of war. This is a concern across all" of Europe, he said —

Russian fighter jet flies within 10 feet of Navy aircraft

Washington • A Russian fighter jet flew within 10 feet of a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft, in what American officials called an unsafe intercept over the Black Sea, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, says the Russian SU-27 Flanker fighter made the unsafe maneuver Wednesday near a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft conducting routine operations in international airspace.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement Wednesday that the Poseidon aircraft did not have its transponders turned on and that it approached Russia's southern border twice. He said Russian jets were deployed to intercept the incoming aircraft and "Russian pilots acted in strict compliance with international flight rules."

Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez, spokesman for U.S. European Command, said the Poseidon had its transponder turned on during the entire flight, following international law for flight safety.

Davis said that U.S. Navy aircraft and ships routinely interact with Russian units in the area and most interactions are safe and professional.

"However, we have concerns when there is an unsafe maneuver like this," he said. "These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions, and could result in a miscalculation or accident."

Russian jets have occasionally flown close to other U.S. aircraft and Navy ships in the region. In one more dramatic incident earlier this year, Russian jets buzzed over the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea, coming within 30 feet of the warship.

The Associated Press