Putin Could Lead the War Against Terrorism – Italian Lawmaker

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to take the lead in the fight against terrorism, a member of Italy’s centre-right Forza Italia political party told Sputnik, commenting on the president's address to the Russian parliament.

Putin reiterated his call on the international community to create a joint counter-terrorism effort, based on international law, during a speech earlier on Thursday.

"I think right now Putin is in a position of becoming a real protagonist of war against terrorism, and I think it is the best opportunity for the international institutions to do their jobs, because their role is not to act in the interest of a single faction, but in the interest of all the people," Fabrizio Bertot said.

The lawmaker added that Russia had done the most work to curb terrorism.

The Russian president has long called for the creation of a broad international coalition to fight Islamic State (IS, or Daesh in Arabic), including at the UN General Assembly in September.

Russian Aerospace Forces commenced precision airstrikes in Syria against IS, a group that is outlawed in Russia, on September 30, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.