PARIS (Sputnik) — On Friday, during the Normandy Four summit in Paris Putin discussed the progress of Russia’s anti-ISIL air campaign in Syria with his French counterpart Francois Hollande, stressing that other countries should contribute to the work of the information center in Baghdad.
"No, at the moment, he is not our ally, he is an ally of [Syrian President] Bashar Assad. But tomorrow he may — and I would like it, as I have said to him — become a partner in the search of a political solution and in conducting airstrikes on Islamic State," Hollande said in an interview with the Arte television channel.
Russia, Syria, Iran and Iraq agreed last week to cooperate on security and intelligence sharing in Syria and set up an information center in Baghdad to coordinate efforts.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. The country’s government forces are fighting a number of opposition groups, as well as radical Islamist militant organizations, including the Nusra Front and ISIL.
In late September, France conducted its first airstrikes in Syria as part of a US-led international coalition.
