A senior Russian military delegation will visit Israel on Tuesday for two days of talks on how the countries can avoid accidentally clashing while operating in Syria, an Israeli military officer said.
France challenged Russia to back its words with deeds over fighting Islamic State militants in Syria as major powers on Tuesday struggled to resolve differences between Moscow and the West over ending the civil war in the Middle Eastern country.
Leading Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said he supported Russian efforts to fight Islamic State militants in the Middle East, including Syria.
Russian deployment presents new challenges for Israeli Air Force
The United States said on Monday it was willing to cooperate with Russia, as well as Iran, to try to end the Syrian civil war but the two big powers clashed over whether to work with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
President Barack Obama addressed a range of global topics in a speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly on Monday, including the war in Syria, where he said the United States was willing to work with Iran and Russia to end the conflict.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2014, Israel resisted pressure to join the United States and its European allies in condemning the move — citing in particular its concern not to antagonize Russia for fear it could provide Syria with a powerful anti-aircraft missile called the S-300.
Under President Barack Obama, the world is becoming unglued. Iraq is being overrun by Islamist terrorists, and the United States is now evacuating its Baghdad embassy.
With a new round of nuclear talks with Iran starting next week, the world powers arrayed on the other side of the negotiating table are divided by another issue of geopolitical importance: the crisis in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention is to spark a civil war in Ukraine, even though he acts under the guise of Russia’s right to protect ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens.
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