BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — An international military operation against the Islamic State in Syria cannot be implemented without a mandate from the UN Security Council, which requires Russian support, Belgian Minister of Budget Andre Flahaut said Tuesday.
"The military intervention against the IS cannot be carried out without a UN mandate and thus also without Russia," Flahaut, former Minister of Defense, wrote in his official Twitter account.
#matin1 une #InterventionMilitaireEnSyrie contre l’EI ne peut se faire sans mandat onu et donc aussi sans la Russie
— André Flahaut (@andreflahaut) 8 сентября 2015
The United States leads an international coalition of over 60 countries that has been conducting airstrikes against ISIL radicals since 2014.
Syria has been engulfed in a civil war for more than four years. Apart from fighting ISIL militants and other jihadist groups, the country's government forces are also battling a so-called moderate opposition.