MOSCOW, Oct. 24 (UPI) — The Russian foreign minister said on state-run television today the country is prepared to work with Western countries to support Syrian rebels struggling to fight invading ISIS forces.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it a mistake for American and Western forces to continue refusing to coordinate anti-terrorist efforts, according to Voice of America News.
Lavrov contends that Russian and other efforts to root out ISIS strongholds and clear the way for new democratic processes will require the sharing of intelligence on the whereabouts terrorists, as well as the “patriotic opposition,” the Free Syrian Army.
“External players cannot decide anything for the Syrians,” Lavrov said on Russian state television, reported The Guardian. “We must force them to come up with a plan for their country where the interests of every religious, ethnic and political group will be well protected.”
Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly spoke by telephone to discuss early plans for helping to foment democratic processes in Syria, a follow-up conversation to a meeting on October 23 between Lavrov, Kerry and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Lavrov said in the television address that his nation was ready to provide air support to the Free Syrian Army, but that Russia would need the cooperation of Western nations to do so — something also touched on in the meetings between foreign ministers.
Rebels in Syria, who have been mired in civil war for five years, told reporters they were confused by the Russian leaders’ comments because of bombing campaigns against their groups in the last several weeks, leaving them unsure whether Lavrov was serious about helping.
“Russia is bombing the Free Syrian Army and now it wants to cooperate with us, while it remains committed to Assad?” Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Saoud, a spokesman for the Division 13 rebel group, told Al Arabiya. “We don’t understand Russia at all!”
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