Russia stepped up pressure on the US yesterday to respond to its involvement in the Syria crisis as Moscow pushed to shift nascent co-ordination structures with the Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi militaries into the core of a new anti-terror alliance.
President Vladimir Putin invited other countries to join a co-ordination centre through which Russia’s armed forces shared intelligence with the militaries of Syria, Iran and Iraq in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East.
Just hours after a meeting with US president Barack Obama on Monday, during which the two discussed the crisis in Syria but which left big disagreements, Mr Putin told Russian media that the centre, first revealed late last week, was “open to representatives of all countries that are interested in combating terrorism”, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin yesterday.