The
next weapon in the fight against Islamic extremists in the Middle East
might be Vladimir Putin. The Russian president discussed with his
Security Council on Monday potentially contributing to fighting ISIS,
according to Russian news agencies. The council "exchanged opinions on
possible forms of cooperation with other partners on a plan to counter
Islamic State in the framework of international law," Interfax quoted a
Kremlin spokesman as saying.
The United States has
been trying to build a broad coalition to thwart ISIS militants in Syria
and Iraq, but Russia has not been part of the conversation. “The
anti-ISIL coalition is not a club party — we do not expect any
invitations and we are not going to buy entry tickets,” said Ilya
Rogachev, an official in Russia's Foreign Ministry said last week. But
Russia is a supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime
is trying to stave off an insurgency that has included ISIS fighters.
ISIS could potentially
threaten Moscow directly, too. The group's ranks include Muslims from
Russia's North Caucasus region, who have been waging their own
insurgency in the mountainous region following two wars between Moscow
and separatists in Chechnya.
No comments:
Post a Comment