Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov has defended his country's air strikes in Syria, saying they were
targeting the same "terrorist" groups as the US-led coalition.
Russian jets carried out a second day of air strikes in Syria on Thursday.
But a US official said Russia had been isolated by its "indiscriminate" strikes against the Syrian opposition.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that if Russia was genuinely focused on fighting Islamic State (IS) it would contribute to the US-led coalition.
The strikes risk drawing Russia more deeply into the conflict, he added.
The Russian defence ministry said five sites were attacked on Thursday and an IS command post at Jisr al-Shughour was destroyed.
The Kremlin says it is acting on the request of the Syrian government to help combat IS militants - who have seized parts of Syria and Iraq - and other designated terrorist groups.
But the US and its allies fear the strikes have mainly targeted opponents of Russia's ally, President Assad.
Mr Lavrov, speaking at the UN in New York, said Russia would fight IS and other terrorist groups including the al-Nusra Front - an al-Qaeda affiliate.
He said this position was the same as the US-led coalition which has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq and Syria for several months.
"We are not supporting anyone against their own people. We fight terrorism," he said.
"As far as I understand it, the [US-led] coalition announced Isil (IS) and other associated groups as the enemy. And the coalition does the same as Russia does."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34416978
No comments:
Post a Comment