MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. The United States’ reluctance to cooperate with Russia in the struggle against terrorism in Syria greatly hinders the effectiveness of operations, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We feel a shortage of cooperation and this undermines our common positions," he said, when asked where Russia and the United States stood on the issue of struggle against terrorism in Syria.
"If Russia and the United States were acting together, that struggle would be far more effective," he explained. "Regrettably, this does not happen as our US partners lack such a wish."
Peskov preferred to keep quiet about the Russia-US balance of influence in Syria against the backdrop of reports Russian forces have eliminated the leader of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"I don’t know in what way it harms the US positions," he said in reply to a journalist’s speculation to that effect.
"The purpose of the operation is struggle against terrorism and assistance to Syria’s legitimate leadership in the struggle against terrorism," he said. Peskov recalled that several thousand militants were recruits from Russia, which posed a great threat to the country.
"This is the reason why the struggle against the Islamic State is one of Russia’s key tasks," he said.