"I think this is one thing we share now with the US government: They don't want the Assad government to fall. They want to fight [ISIL] in a way which is not going to harm the Syrian government," Vitaly Churkin told CBS News in an interview published Tuesday.
Russia’s UN envoy also noted "great progress in understanding the complexities of the situation" that Washington has made since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.
"To me, it is absolutely clear that…one of the very serious concerns of the American government now is that the Assad regime will fall and [ISIL] will take over Damascus and the United States will be blamed for that," Churkin underscored.
Russia, meanwhile, insists on Assad's presence at any settlement talks.
"They have to work with the government. We are not saying they have to sit at the same table necessarily with Assad, but they are the Syrian government and they need to work with them," Churkin argued. "They are fighting on the ground."
The envoy recalled an anti-ISIL UN Security Council resolution he encouraged US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power to adopt. The inclusive resolution was ultimately not implemented, leading to a US-led anti-ISIL coalition without the support of the United Nations.
"I was encouraging them to go for a resolution, but they decided to do it without a resolution, simply making [a] unilateral announcement… We are prepared to contemplate a Security Council resolution on [ISIL]," Churkin said.
Syria has been in a civil war for almost five years, in which forces loyal to Assad are fighting separatists on one front and terrorist organizations like the Nusra Front and the Islamic State on the other.
A US-led coalition of countries launched airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria late summer 2014.
