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“Well, we coordinate the efforts against ISIL”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a joint press conference with his USA counterpart John Kerry.

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.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, celebrated for his macho bravura, and pop star Elton John, known for his elaborate costumes, ballads and gay activism, coming together in a phone conversation that the singer said had been initiated by the Kremlin.

It comes amid increased Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has faced several setbacks in recent weeks, including the loss of the government airbase in Idlib to Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front.

The diplomat noted the recent flurry of diplomatic activity on Syria after the Iran nuclear deal was announced, including a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Qatar, but said that window “slammed shut” with...

But the Kremlin firmly denied the president had contacted the singer and hinted the call could have been a hoax.

Assad’s remarks struck a far more confident tone than a speech he gave in July in which he acknowledged military defeats because of manpower problems in his military.

A pair of Russian phone pranksters have claimed they fooled Elton John into believing he was talking to President Vladimir Putin. That was directed to, er, both of you.

Starting the meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission, Vladimir Putin congratulated the employees of the defense sector on Gunsmith’s Day and wished them new achievements: “I want to appeal to those who work in the defense industry”. He said that it the...

Mr Kerry’s call came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin defended his military assistance to Assad’s government and said it was impossible to defeat Isil without co-operating with Damascus.

Guardian reports that the purported call between Vladimir Putin and Elton John didn’t infact take place.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter spoke on Friday with Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu over the phone on areas where “perspectives overlap and areas of divergence”, the Pentagon announced.

A senior US official said Shoigu told Carter that Russia’s increased military activities are defensive in nature, and designed to honor Moscow’s commitments to the Assad government.

“The secretary and the minister talked about areas where the United States and Russia’s perspectives overlap and areas of divergence”, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

Scott Walker agreed that his opponent Carly Fiorina had a big night at the debate Wednesday, but he gives most of the credit to the media. The previous presidential primary leader was the Democratic debate in 2008, which had “only” 8.3 million viewers by comparison.