MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Francois Hollande at the Kremlin on Thursday that Russia is “prepared to work with you” in combatting the Islamist militants who have inflicted devastating attacks on both countries.
Hollande flew to Moscow to enlist Putin in a joint campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, but the prospects for close coordination between wary nations are problematic.
Just hours before the presidents met, Russian officials promised sweeping economic sanctions against Turkey, a NATO ally of France, for shooting down a Russian jet over the Syrian border in an episode that left two Russian servicemen dead.
“I am in Moscow with you to figure out how we can act together in order to coordinate our actions to hit this terrorist group and look for political solutions for Syria,” Hollande said at a joint news conference before entering private talks with Putin.
Russia and the West are at odds over the political future of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Putin has provided him with military and diplomatic shelter from the West, which wants him to step down in a political transition. But Putin has emphasized the fight against global terrorism as a means to repair, or at least re-establish, a meaningful partnership with the West.
A U.S.-led coalition has launched airstrikes against the Islamic State for the last year, while Russian bombers began striking targets in Syria two months ago.
“Our positions are the same,” Putin told Hollande, noting that both countries had suffered from terrorist attacks. “That forces us to join our forces in fighting terrorists. We are prepared to work with you, Mr. President.”
In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron argued the case for extending Britain’s airstrikes targeting the Islamic State in Syria, telling Parliament that it posed a “fundamental threat” to the security of the United Kingdom and that Britain should not “wait until an attack takes place here.”
He added that British police and security services have foiled seven plots over the past year either linked to the Islamic State or inspired by its propaganda.
Cameron told Parliament that if Britain won’t act “when our friend and ally France has been struck in this way, then our allies in the world can be forgiven for asking: If not now, when?”
