Tri-Service

Putin: Russia Considering Airstrikes Against Islamic State

Vladimir Putin says Russia is considering joining the US and its allies in carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State.

"We are thinking about it and don't exclude anything" - Vladimir Putin.

The Russian President added, however, that his country would only take such a step in accordance with international law, and criticised the US and its allies for striking Syrian territory without UN permission.

Speaking after meeting Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly, Mr Putin ruled out Russian boots on the ground in Syria.

But the two leaders failed to reach agreement over the position of Bashar al-Assad, with Russia saying it would be an 'enormous mistake" not to work with him, whilst Mr Obama urged a political transition to replace the Syrian president.

The US has long called for him to leave power, while Russia has cast the Syrian government as the only viable option for confronting Islamic State, the militant group that has taken advantage of the vacuum created by the civil war.

During his address to the UN, Mr Obama declared: "We must recognise that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo."

Mr Putin, speaking shortly after the US president, urged the world to stick with Assad. During his first appearance at the UN gathering in a decade, he said:

"We believe it's a huge mistake to refuse to co-operate with the Syrian authorities, with the government forces, those who are bravely fighting terror face-to-face."

After both speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Obama and Mr Putin also met privately for 90 minutes - their first face-to-face encounter in nearly a year.

The leaders have long had a strained relationship, with ties deteriorating to post-Cold War lows after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and allegedly backed rebels in Ukraine's east. The US has sought to punish Russia through economic sanctions.

US officials said the situation in Ukraine consumed about half of the meeting. The White House is worried pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine could hold local elections next month that violate a fragile peace plan, and Mr Obama urged Mr Putin to help keep the accord on track.

The peace deal was brokered in February by France and Germany, and Russia does not want the US to become engaged in those talks.

Mr Putin, however, sought to downplay any differences with the US on Ukraine following his meeting with Mr Obama, saying that Washington was working with the Ukrainians and the Europeans to maintain diplomatic contacts with Russia to help with a settlement.