MOSCOW, September 16 /TASS/. The achievements of the US-led coalition in fighting the Islamic State (IS) militants look modest, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Air strikes (more than 5,000 air strikes which destroyed 7,655 targets according to official reports) combined with operations by special operations units (for example, the liquidation by US Special Operations forces of Abu Sayyaf who was responsible for the IS finance) did not stop the terrorist expansion," the ministry went on to say.
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"A year has passed since the United States created the so-called international coalition to fight IS bypassing the United Nations Security Council," the Foreign Ministry said.
"The coalition is operating in Iraq with agreement from the Iraqi government while in Syria it is acting without any prior consultations with the country’s legitimate government," the ministry went on to say.
The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the IS militants continued expanding the Caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
"Moreover, the growing discontent with the coalition’s air strikes which cause civilian casualties increases the number of local people who sympathize with the extremists and want to join their ranks," the ministry said.
"We are urging regional and international partners to consolidate efforts in fighting the global terrorist threat on the basis of existing international laws and the United Nations key role in this struggle," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.