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Fight against Islamic state

Putin highly assesses preliminary results of Russia’s military operation in Syria

Good preconditions will be created for subsequent political settlement in Syria if effort is united in fight against the common enemy, Putin said at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu

© EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE

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SOCHI, October 7./TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has highly assessed preliminary results of the operation of Aerospace Defense Forces in Syria at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. "It is too early to review the results, but what has been done deserves high positive assessment," Putin said adding that this concerns not only the Defense Ministry in general, but also General Staff and those officers and servicemen working in Syria. "Pilots working in Syria deserve special acknowledgement, along with seamen of the Caspian Flotilla, as evidenced by the use of high-precision weapons," Putin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin added that French President Francois Hollande had suggested uniting the effort of the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Free Syrian Army against Islamic State.

"During my latest trip to Paris (on October 2), the French president, Mr [Francois] Hollande voiced an interesting idea, saying he believed it could be worth trying at least to join together efforts of the army of government troops, the army of President al-Assad, and the so-called Free Syrian Army," Putin said at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

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"Though we don’t know so far where it is and who leads it. But proceeding from the fact that it is a combat wing of the so-called ‘healthy part of the opposition’, good preconditions would be created for subsequent political settlement in Syria if effort was united in fight against the common enemy, terrorist organizations, IS, Jabhat al-Nusra and others," he added.

Putin said the Russian Foreign Ministry would continue working towards that. "I mean that we are anyway in contact with practically all opposition forces, but I also ask you to support effort of the Russian Foreign Ministry through partner channels," he addressed to Shoigu.

The president urged further work with foreign partners, "as without their participation, without participation of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the US, Iran, Iraq and neighboring states, this work can hardly be organized duly".

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Vladimir Putin Sergey Shoigu Francois Hollande Islamic State

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