Putin to address United Nations for first time in a decade

The crisis is expected to be high on the agenda as world leaders gather at the United Nations in New York, and Putin is expected to hold rare talks with US President Barack Obama to discuss the issue later on Monday.

The sudden military build-up in support of Mr Assad and a refugee crisis that has spilled over from the region into Europe have lent urgency to attempts to resolve the Syria conflict.

“I think today everyone has accepted that president Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists”, president Hassan Rouhani of Iran told CNN in an interview.

Iraq’s decision to strengthen ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad and his two main allies potentially complicates USA efforts to combat the IS group without strengthening regional foes who are also battling the extremists.

“We assess that Moscow is keeping its options open, will not prop up the Syrian regime at any cost, and may even be preparing its contingencies for the eventual downfall of President [Bashar] Assad”, Munks said.

During the interview, the Russian president also said that his speech at the UN General Assembly would be focused on Russia’s vision of global relations, the future of the worldwide community, as well as the struggle against terrorism and the Islamic State terror organization.

“We have been providing assistance to legitimate government entities only”, Putin said. “We have common history, common culture, common religion, and many things in common”.

The problem for Putin is that, while his message may sell back home, his diplomatic initiative on Syria is likely to leave Obama and other leaders cold, Mr. Weiss says.

One reason for the shift is that Mr Putin has stepped up his support for Mr Assad, moving troops and weapons into Syria, which have reportedly made their first bombing raids against IS targets.

“But we are considering intensifying our work with both President Assad and with our partners in other countries”, he added, according to an English-language transcript.

Russian Federation and Iran have argued that world powers should support Bashar al-Assad’s regime, at least until Syrian forces manage to defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.

“I want to point out right away that White House Press Secretary Earnest’s announcement that the Russian president supposedly sought out this meeting – and repeatedly asked about arranging it – is not accurate”, Ushakov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

A statement from the Iraqi military’s joint operations command on Saturday said the cooperation had come “with increased Russian concern about the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia undertaking criminal acts with Daesh (Islamic State)”. That language can be seen as a reference to Syria’s government, which Washington and other Western governments have said must go.