Backing Assad, Moscow Announces ’Early Details’ on Fighting ’ISIL’

Local Editor

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday "early details" of how to coordinate international efforts to fight "ISIL" have started to emerge.

Lavrov was speaking at a joint news conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He said Moscow and Riyadh agreed that international players should join ranks to counter the Takfiri extremists in Syria and Iraq.

The talks Tuesday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir follow their recent meeting in Doha that also involved US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Moscow has been a key backer of Syria and its President Bashar Assad, shielding his regime from UN sanctions. The conflict has left at least 250,000 dead and turned more than 4 million people into refugees.

While the Kremlin has shown no sign it could drop its support for Assad, it recently engaged the Saudis.

In parallel, Russia has invited the main Syrian opposition group to visit Moscow, a move that comes amid a new Kremlin diplomatic push to mediate in the Syrian conflict.

Since the year's start, Russia has hosted two rounds of talks between Syrian government and various opposition groups which have failed to score any visible progress.

Moscow's move follows Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting in Qatar with the coalition's ex-leader, Moaz Al-Khatib. Lavrov also met in Doha with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir for talks focusing on the situation in Syria and efforts to combat "ISIL" group.

Speaking after the talks, Lavrov dismissed the allegations that Russia could be preparing to shift its support for Assad as he called for dialogue between opposition groups and Assad's government.

He also warned the US against launching air raids on Syrian government forces to support US-trained militant groups, saying it could make it more difficult to fight terrorism.

Furthermore, Lavrov said last week that Russian diplomatic efforts to help end the Syrian conflict stem from President Vladimir Putin's diplomatic initiative he put forward during a meeting with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman, King Salman's youngest son, in St. Petersburg in June.

Lavrov said Putin's initiative offers to "form a joint anti-terror front that would unite efforts of all forces fighting terrorism on the ground, as well as countries that could help that struggle."

"All recognize that airstrikes aren't enough, and it's necessary to form a coalition that would include those confronting the terror threat with arms in hands, meaning the Syrian army, the Iraqi army and the Kurds," he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team