Media: Putin is ready to independently strike on jihadists in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to launch unilateral air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria if the United States rejects his proposal for coordinated action against the jihadists. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing a source close to the Kremlin and an adviser to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“Russia hopes that common sense will prevail and US President Barack Obama will accept the hand extended by Putin. However, if this does not happen, then Putin will still act,” said Elena Suponina, a senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Studies, which advises the Kremlin.

Resignation of al-Assad

As noted by Bloomberg, Putin prefers the option in which the United States and its allies agree to coordinate with Russia military actions against the IG, Iran and the Syrian army, but the US administration has so far rejected it. At the same time, Moscow proposed that Washington launch a process of political settlement in Syria, which ultimately should lead to the resignation of this country's president, Bashar Assad. The resignation of Assad is one of the key conditions of the American side.

According to reports, Putin will present his initiative when speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 28. Meanwhile, a White House official told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that the United States is ready to discuss with Moscow the issue of launching coordinated strikes against ISIS militants to avoid incidents with Russian warplanes, but America and its allies have not yet received a “concrete” proposal from Russia .

A spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, did not comment on this information to Bloomberg.