Russia Surprises U.S. with Accord on Battling ISIS

For the second time this month, Russia moved to expand its political and military influence in the Syria conflict and left the United States scrambling, this time by reaching an understanding announced on Sunday, with Iraq, Syria and Iran to share intelligence about the Islamic State.

Like Russia’s earlier move to bolster the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad by deploying warplanes and tanks to a base near Latakia, in northwestern Syria, the intelligence-sharing arrangement was sealed without notice to the United States. American officials knew that a group of Russian military officers were in Baghdad, but they were clearly surprised when the Iraqi military’s Joint Operations Command announced the intelligence-sharing accord on Sunday, the New York Times reports.

Russia’s moves raise difficult questions for the Obama administration, which remains deeply conflicted about American military involvement in the Syria conflict. Ensuring that the Russian military and the U.S.-led coalition, which is carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State, “deconflict” and avoid running into each other is only part of the problem: The Obama administration and the Kremlin do not appear to agree even on the main reason for the conflict.

Putin: No Plans ‘Right Now’ to Send Russian Troops to Syria

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russia had no plans “right now” to put combat troops on the ground in Syria, but would continue backing the Syrian government, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

Speaking in an interview broadcast Sunday on the eve of his meeting with President Barack Obama, the Russian leader sharply criticized U.S. military support for Syrian rebels, describing it as not only illegal but counterproductive.

His statements show how far apart Russia and the U.S. remained regarding the civil war in Syria going into Monday’s meeting between the two presidents. Putin and Obama were set to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, after both address the annual gathering of world leaders.

France Launches First Airstrikes Against ISIS in Syria

France has carried out its first airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria after nearly three weeks of surveillance flights, the Guardian reports.

“France struck in Syria this morning an Islamic State training camp which threatened the security of our country,” French president Francois Hollande told reporters at the United Nations, adding that six French jets had struck the ISIS camp and warning of more strikes in the coming weeks.

Hollande announced earlier this month that France would carry out surveillance flights with a view to eventual airstrikes against ISIS, citing self-defense as his rationale. Although the decision came as the refugee crisis and the photo of drowned three-year-old Aylan Kurdi sparked shock across the world, France’s decision was largely influenced by last month’s foiled attack by a suspected jihadi gunman who opened fire on a packed Amsterdam-Paris train.

Recommended Reads

• Newsweek: The Real Reason Putin Is Sending Troops to Syria
• The New York Times: Hospitals Devastated in Syria, War-Wounded Seek Treatment in Jordan
• The Daily Beast: Finding Obama’s Missing Syrian Fighters
• The New York Times: Thousands Enter Syria to Join ISIS Despite Global Efforts
• Vox: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Explained in One Map