Islamic State: Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama in showdown over ISIS

Vladimir Putin blames the west for the crisis in Syria and Barack Obama says Bashar Assad has no long term role.

A supplied image obtained Monday, Sept. 28, 2015 of Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop addresses a summit on Sustainable Developmenton on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in New York. (AAP Image/United Nations, Kim Haughton NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama have clashed publicly over Syria’s savage civil war, with the Russian president blaming the west for the present crisis and Mr Obama lashing the Kremlin over its actions in the Ukraine.

Mr Putin told a gathering of world leaders in New York overnight that the international community has no choice but to back Syria’s brutal dictatorship, saying it is the only force “valiantly fighting’’ the terrorist army of the Islamic State.

As expected, Mr Putin and US President Barack Obama traded barbs in their addresses to the United Nations, but both made it clear they were prepared to cooperate in what has become a new flashpoint for great power conflict.

Mr Putin effectively blamed the United States for the rise of Islamic State, saying the terror group had arisen from the ashes of the anti-US insurgency in Iraq, itself a product of the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In what was a clear reference to Washington’s support for the Arab Spring and the Libyan revolution, Mr Putin castigated the West, and in particular America, for ‘’exporting’’ democratic revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Such a policy had yielded destruction, chaos and a vacuum into which extremists like Islamic State had poured.

“Rather than bringing about reforms, an aggressive interference has resulted in flagrant destruction of national institutions and the lifestyle itself,’’ the Russian president said.

Putin called for a “genuinely broad international coalition’’ to fight Islamic State, a project he likened to the concert of states assembled to fight Hitler in the 1940s.

That included backing Syria’s president Bashar al Assad, Mr Putin said.

“We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces, who are valiantly fighting terrorism face-to-face,’’ Mr Putin said.

“We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad’s armed forces and Kurd militia are truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organisations in Syria.’’

But in his own address, delivered an hour before Mr Putin’s, Mr Obama said that Assad had no long term role to play in Syria’s future.

Syria’s civil war began, Mr Obama said, when Assad responded to peaceful protests with repression and killing

“Yes, realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out ISIL,’’ Mr Obama said. “But realism also requires a managed transition away from Assad and to a new leader.’’

Still, Mr Obama left open the possibility of cooperation with Moscow to resolve the Syrian conflict, saying the US was prepared to work with Russia or Iran, Assad’s main backer in the Middle East.

“The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict,” Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama’s remarks reflect a new, carefully nuanced position that allows for the possibility of Assad staying on temporarily in any new government of national unity.

Previously, the US had insisted Assad go as a precondition of peace talks.

Last night’s speeches came amid escalating tensions between the US and Russia over Moscow’s role in Syria. The Kremlin has commenced a major build up of planes, attack helicopters and troops in a bid to bolster Assad.

Russia also presided over an agreement between Iraq, Syria and Iran to share intelligence on Islamic State, also known as ISIL.

Washington was not included in the new arrangement, which was seen as part of a broader effort by Putin to wrest the leadership role from the United States in the fight against ISIL.

Russia’s increased involvement has prompted both sides to talk in order to avoid their forces accidentally clashing.

The US president chided Russia over its aggression in Ukraine, which had resulted in US sanctions on Moscow.

“We cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated,’’ Mr Obama said.

Mr Putin and Mr Obama were expected to meet briefly after their speeches

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called for greater cooperation in the fight against ISIL.

“I hope that there can be a level of cooperation to ensure that there’s no conflict in both strategies,’’ Ms Bishop said.

“There is a common interest in defeating this terrorist organisation.’’

She said Moscow’s deepening interest in the conflict was not a bad thing.

“We are keen to see Moscow use its military resources to defeat (ISIL)’’, Ms Bishop said, noting that Russia had assured the world its forces were there only to defend against the Islamic State.

“We have to welcome that,’’ Ms Bishop said.

Ms Bishop said Australia had agreed to a US request to pledge new resources to UN peacekeeping capabilities by offering C17 and C130 aircraft for crisis situations, training for peacekeepers and intelligence assistance.

Putin, Obama in IS showdown

Russian President Vladimir Putin squared up for a clash this morning with his US rival Barack Obama at the UN as the Kremlin leader positioned Moscow as a rival to US leadership in the global coalition fighting Islamic State.

Mr Putin and Mr Obama were due to make competing speeches before the UN general assembly in New York early today before their first ­official meeting in more than two years, at a time of high ­tension. Russia and the US will discuss ways to avoid accidental clashes between their forces in Syria as Moscow deepens its involvement in the bloody conflict and positions itself as a potential rival to US leadership of the anti-Islamic State coalition.

Mr Putin, isolated by the West over the crisis in Ukraine, has dramatically thrust himself back into the spotlight with a lightning push on the conflict in Syria.

Moscow has put Washington on the back foot by sending troops and aircraft to the war-torn country and pushing reluctant world leaders to admit its longstanding ally Bashar al-Assad could cling to power.

Mr Putin’s address to a gathering of world leaders was to follow Mr Obama’s by only 45 minutes. The two leaders were then set to meet this morning but, underscoring their deep differences, the US and Russia couldn’t even agree on the purpose of the meeting, which will occur on the sidelines of the UN summit.

The White House said it would focus on Ukraine and getting Moscow to live up to a fragile peace plan. The Kremlin said Ukraine would be discussed only if time allowed, with Syria and the fight against Islamic State dominating the discussions.

On Sunday, New York time (yesterday AEST), the Russian President said Moscow had no plans to deploy ground troops in the fight against Islamic State, despite its recent military build up in Syria. “Russia will not participate in any troop operations in the territory of Syria or in any other states,” Mr Putin told the US edition of 60 Minutes.

“Well, at least we don’t plan on it right now. But we are considering intensifying our work with both President Assad and with our partners in other countries.”

Mr Putin’s remarks came amid growing anxiety in Washington about the Kremlin’s role in the Syrian conflict, with the Russian government having dispatched troops and combat aircraft to Latakia, the Alawite stronghold of Assad. The Russian forces, which have been sent to bolster Assad’s flagging regime, an ally of Mr Putin, are operating separately from a US-led coalition of Western states, which is conducting an air campaign against Islamic State, and training Iraqi forces.

On Sunday, the Iraqi government announced it had reached an intelligence-sharing agreement with Iran and Russia that would include information on Islamic State, also known as ISIS. The US, which until now has been the lead actor in the co-ordinated fight against the terror group, was not included in the deal, raising the prospect of parallel, yet separate, anti-Islamic State coalitions.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, yesterday.

“I think the critical thing is that all of the efforts need to be co-ordinated,” Mr Kerry said. “This is not yet co-ordinated. I think we have concerns about how we’re going to go forward, but that’s precisely what we’re meeting on to talk about now.”

Mr Putin and Mr Obama were expected to discuss ways the two sides can prevent inadvertent contact between their various forces. The prospect of such accidental clashes last week prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Moscow in the hope of avoiding misunderstandings between the Russians and the Israel Defence Forces, which also is active inside Syria.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg backed Mr Kerry, telling the Reuters news agency there was a need for co-ordination to avoid any “incident or accident” between Russian and US forces.

Speaking after Mr Kerry’s remarks, a senior State Department official was frank about Washington’s confusion regarding Russia’s game plan in Syria. “We’re just at the beginning of trying to understand what the Russians’ intentions are in Syria, in Iran, and to try to see if there are mutually beneficial ways forward here,” the official said. “We’ve got a long way to go in that conversation.”

A second point of tension between Russia and the US is a political solution to the Syrian war, now entering its fifth year. Moscow remains firmly committed to keeping Assad in place. Mr Putin told 60 Minutes Moscow supported the “legitimate” Syrian government.

“It’s my deep belief that any actions to the contrary in order to destroy the legitimate government will create a situation which you can witness now in the other countries of the region or in other regions, for instance in Libya where all the state institutions are disintegrated,” Mr Putin said.

“We see a similar situation in Iraq. And there is no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism.”

The West is insistent Assad eventually go, although in recent weeks the US, Britain and Australia have adjusted their positions, saying Assad temporarily could head a transitional government of national unity.

Julie Bishop said the change in position reflected the facts on the ground. “We believe that all options should be on the table, that is realpolitik, that is being realistic,” the Foreign Minister said.

She said earlier initiatives aimed at setting up a transitional government of national unity without Assad, had failed.

The talks come amid a worsening security environment, with reports there are up to 30,000 foreign fighters in the Syrian-Iraq theatre.

Mr Kerry said foreign leaders had resolved to counter the lure of Islamic State’s ideology by attacking it throughout the “life cycle” of the radicalisation process.

Additional reporting: agencies