Washington: In the aftermath the deadly attacks by the Islamic State terror group in Paris, the US and Russia today indicated intensification of their co-operation and coordination against the dreaded outfit.
“We did talk about cooperation, and I have said for some period of time… That cooperation makes a lot of sense. But we need to make certain of where we’re going with it and of exactly what the dynamics are with respect to the end game,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said.
“We need to be certain, obviously, that the fight is the fight against ISIL/Daesh, against Nusrah, and not against the moderate opposition,” Kerry said in a joint press availability in Vienna, Austria, with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Kerry was responding to a question on US-Russia counter- terrorism cooperation in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attack.
Kerry said he and Lavrov talked about how they can work together now to try to make sure those intentions are clear and the choices that people are making are clear and coordinated.
“We discussed some options that we have available to us,” he said adding that he would discuss these with the US President Barack Obama and his national security team.
“If we can cooperate and get the political process moving, it opens enormous possibilities for other cooperation which is much more effective and broader. But we have to come at this in a way that makes certain of what we’re both undertaking,” Kerry asserted.
Lavrov said the two leaders are convinced that Russia-US coordination is in interests of all humanity.
“We should not allow terrorists to take over the region just because US, Russia and the rest of the world cannot agree on some things,” he said.
“The situation is truly complex due to intertwining political interests in the region and Syria. There are a lot more than two agendas. Fighting terrorism should not depend on any conditions; we are convinced on that,” he said.
“It’s good that Russian and US military have contacts, at least in the field of preventing conflicts. We are for the deepest cooperation possible. Our President has reconfirmed that. The US has some issues with Russian operation, and we have questions to the coalition on how they are doing things,” Lavrov said.
“Multiple times we have asked to sit down together to have a meaningful, specific conversation – with maps, with specific targets. We have asked our US colleagues and other Western colleagues. We could clear all the concerns and ask questions what we are doing wrong.
“This type of dialogue has not yet taken place, and all these concerns and mutual questions can be cleared only through a direct dialogue,” the Russian Foreign Minister said.