Putin Arrives for Syria Talks with Hollande in Paris

Putin Arrives for Syria Talks with Hollande in Paris
Fri Oct 2, 2015 14:24:25

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived for talks with his French counterpart Francois Hollande Friday as questions mount over who Moscow is targeting in Syria air strikes.

The two leaders smiled as they shook hands outside the Elysee palace where they will discuss the conflict in Syria before a four-way summit with Germany on the crisis in Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly called for the creation of a counter-terrorism coalition which would include Syria.

In September, Putin said he had discussed the idea of establishing an international anti-terrorist coalition together with the Syrian government to fight ISIS, with his US counterpart Barack Obama, also raising the subject with the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as other Russia's partners. Iran welcomed the initiative.

Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq earlier agreed to create the Baghdad Information Center for coordinating intelligence and security cooperation against terrorists. The center will focus on collecting, processing, summarizing and analyzing current data about the Middle East in the context of the fight against ISIS.

On Wednesday, the Russian parliament backed President Vladimir Putin’s request to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State, following an appeal by the Syrian government. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that it has since carried out 20 missions in Syria, striking at least eight ISIS targets.

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