Russian Federation calls for united fight against terrorism

U.S. president Barack Obama has reiterated his administration’s belief that Syria’s civil war will not end until Syrian president Bashar al-Assad leaves power. The dynamic places Moscow at risk of being targeted by Sunni extremist groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda. “Maybe it’s getting through to them”, Talbott said.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that Russian officials were increasingly confident the USA and France were ready to agree on coordinating efforts to fight Islamic State, perhaps including Assad’s forces.

In Paris, the rapprochement comes as French President Francois Hollande asked his countrymen to defy terrorists by living normally, strengthening his calls for coalition to eradicate the Islamic State after bomb and gun attacks in Paris on Friday killed 129 people and wounded hundreds. Assad has public support, meaning no peaceful resolution of the conflict is possible without his participation, he added.

“I hope that the change in position of our Western colleagues – which unfortunately came at the cost of the bad terror attacks – will be seen on the part of our other Western partners”, Russia’s top diplomat said.

Last year, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin found himself shunned by fellow world leaders at the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, and he ducked out early.

Assad’s continued grip on power has seriously strained relations between the U.S. and France – firm backers of Syria’s uprising – and Russian Federation, one of the regime’s staunchest allies.

Outside the talks, a group of Syrian refugees showed their support for ending the war, and spoke of their solidarity with the people of Paris after the horrors of 13 November.

In the aftermath of the attacks in Paris and the downed Russian plane in Egypt, Moscow and Paris took steps towards a united military front against ISIL.

It’s in this context that Blinken offered his theory of Russia’s interest. “This will stay with us forever”, he said.

Historically, Russia and Iran have been strategic rivals.

According to Lavrov, senior officials around the world are coming to realize the truth of Russia’s position on the issue and are beginning to distance themselves from Washington’s policies.

Moscow helped Iran build its Bushehr nuclear power plant after the 1979 Islamic revolution, but later cooperated with the U.S.to constrain Iran’s nuclear program.

Putin also instructed Russia’s military to cooperate with the French navy in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Russians don’t “want to see Iraq, they don’t want to see Libya; they don’t want to see the leader go down or leave, and then there’s chaos afterwards”, Kerry said.

The strikes also marked the first time that Russian Federation alerted the coalition beforehand to an upcoming operation, following the terms of an October 20 agreement meant to “deconflict” air operations so aircraft from the two nations won’t run into one another while carrying out missions. And they said these divisions between Moscow and the Kremlin may become more pronounced as the negotiations continue. “So I think it’s very important that our military coalition is transformed also into a political coalition and so that we have a political transition in Syria”.