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Russian military officer says US ashamed of cooperating with Russia against IS

Russia is open for cooperation with the United States on the Syria issue
US Navy fighter jet, supporting military operation against IS in Syria AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic
US Navy fighter jet, supporting military operation against IS in Syria
© AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Chief of the Main Operations Department of the Russian General Staff Col.-Gen. Andrey Kartapolov said on Friday he thinks the US considers it humiliating to admit that it can’t defeat the Islamic State.

"They [the US] have a whole number of causes why they don’t want to do this [cooperate with Russia]. They believe it humiliating for themselves to admit they can’t solve their task announced a year ago," Kartapolov said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

Besides, the US is not ready to interact with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad because "the latest years have demonized him," the general said.

"One more thing. They [the US] hardly really possess the required amount of information on the facilities of the ISIL [the previous name of the Islamic State banned in Russia]," which can be evidenced by the results of their strikes. They have a vague picture about the militants’ real facilities and, apparently, it was embarrassing for them to admit this," the general said.

Meanwhile, Russia is open for cooperation with the United States on the Syria issue, the general said.

US air strikes in Syria are nothing but imitation

According to Kartapolov,  US air strikes at the Islamic State positions in Syria are nothing but window-dressing and imitation.

"We have seen that everything what the US-led coalition is doing is nothing but window-dressing. It’s just an imitation of air strikes," Kartapolov said in an interview published on the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper’s website.

That was the reason that convinced Russia of the need to start air strikes in the Syrian territory to fight the IS (which is banned in Russia as an extremist organization), Kartapolov added.

Russia's airstrikes in Syria

Russia launched an air operation against terrorists in Syria on September 30 at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Russian Aerospace Force’s aviation grouping comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including the newest Sukhoi Su-34 warplanes, Su-30SM fighter jets, modernized Su-24M bombers and Su-25SM attack aircraft, as well as the Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters. The Russian Navy has also delivered strikes from the Caspian Sea on the night to October 7 against militants’ objectives in Syria, using Kalibr long-range cruise missiles.

At the same time, Russia has no plans to participate in ground operations in Syria.