New York, SANA- Any Russian action in Syria against the terrorist organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will be in accordance with international law, President Vladimir Putin said Monday, adding that the international alliance’s air strikes against this terrorist organization didn’t achieve any result.
In a press conference following his first face-to- face meeting with the U.S. President Barack Obama in nearly a year in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 70th session, Putin said we discussed with president Obama
prospects of finding a solution to the crisis in Syria as a whole and fighting the terrorist organizations on the ground of this country in particular.
Asked if Russian aircraft could join the strikes against ISIS, the Kremlin Chief said, “We are thinking about it, and we don’t exclude anything, but if we do something, we will do it in full accordance with the norms of international law.”
Putin stressed that there are military jets from Australia, France, the US, carrying out airstrikes not only in Iraq where it is justified under international law, since there had
been a request from the Iraqi government, but in the case of Syrian territory it is illegal as there is no official request by the government of Damascus.
The US President, as well as the French (President Francois Hollande) are, are not citizens of the Syrian Republic, and therefore it is unlikely that they should be involved in determining the fate of another state’s management, Putin said commenting on Hollande and Obama statements on the Syrian leadership.
The joint information center that was created in Baghdad to coordinate the anti-terrorist efforts of regional powers, Putin noted, adding that this HQ is open for anyone who is interested in the fight against terrorism to join.
Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria have agreed to establish a joint information center in Baghdad to coordinate their operations against ISIS.
Moscow is considering other options in supporting those fighting terrorists on the ground in Syria, such as the Kurdish popular defence groups and, first of all, the Syrian national army which is done in parallel with the political issues, Putin said, ruling out any Russian ground troops’ participation in the battlefield operations in Syria for now.
The crisis in Syria is very deep and anti- terrorist fighting in this country must be
conducted in accordance with political processes and President Bashar al-Assad agrees on that and he talked directly to the Russian mass media about that.
Describing his meeting with President Obama as very constructive, practical and surprisingly frank, the Russian President told the press We found a lot of common ground, but there are differences as well.
H. Zain/ Barry
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