Local Editor

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised Russia's role in talks to end the Syrian crisis and offered the prospect of better ties "if Moscow focused military strikes on "ISIS"."

Obama said Russia had been a "constructive partner in Vienna in trying to create a political transition," referring to the international talks held in Austria.

However, Obama said there were still be differences over the fate of Syrian president Bashar Assad, and Moscow's current focus on defending him.

But he added: "Those differences have not prevented us from looking at how we could set up a cease fire."
Obama also hoped that "Russia may shift the military focus from defending Assad to only attacking "ISIS"."

Until now, when it came to Syria, Moscow and Washington were at sharp odds: The US insisted that Assad leave power and play no role in Syria's future. Russia, meanwhile, used air power against the terrorists causing damage and death over the country.

Russian forces pummeled "ISIS" sites in Syria Tuesday, including targeting the terror organization's self-proclaimed capital city of Raqqa and deploying dozens of cruise missiles.

In parallel, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that the attacks in Paris showed the need for his proposal for an international anti-terror coalition to be realized.

The Russian government also recently blamed "ISIS" for downing a Russian aircraft over Egypt in October, killing 224 people on board.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team