John Kerry seeks Russia's help in fighting Islamic State
by Joseph
Earnest July 24, 2015
Newscast Media MOSCOW—The
historic Iran nuclear deal is offering hope of renewed cooperation in the
Middle East and a potential warming of US-Russian relations. In the coming
weeks, US Secretary of State John Kerry plans to discuss new strategies
for combating Islamic State militants with his Russian counterpart, Sergei
Lavrov.
The
nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 negotiators was a
landmark deal applauded the world over. Only days after it was
finalized, US President Barack Obama praised Russia’s role in bringing
the deal to fruition.
"Russia was a help with this," Obama said in an interview with the New York Times. "I’ll be honest with you."
He went on to describe phone calls initiated by Russian President
Vladimir Putin, with Obama saying he was “encouraged by the fact that
Mr. Putin called me a couple of weeks ago and initiated the call to talk
about Syria.”
"That offers us an opportunity to have a serious conversation with them," Obama added.
As the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group continues its
spread across Iraq and Syria, that conversation may be happening even
sooner than expected.
Speaking to a think-tank in New York on Friday, US Secretary of State
John Kerry said he expected to talk with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov in Qatar in the coming weeks. After the success of the
nuclear talks, the two will discuss how best to counter the militant
group.
"We have to change the dynamic in Syria," Kerry told the Council on Foreign Relations, according to Reuters.
"And that’s part of why we have been negotiating with Turkey in these
last weeks and now have some shift in what the Turks are prepared
to do, and there is also a shift in some of the things that we’re
engaged in," Kerry added.
While Russia and the United States haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye
on Syria, both nations are hoping to forge an alliance between regional
governments to counter the common threat posed by IS.
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