US Should Include Russia in Anti-ISIL Coalition - Senator

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — The United States needs to look at a broader anti-Islamic State (ISIL) coalition that would include Russia, and the two countries should develop a joint plan to counter the terrorist group, US Senator Dan Coats told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Coats characterized a desired US-Russia anti-terror partnership as "sitting down and trying to develop a comprehensive plan where you would have a coalition of nations, including Russia, addressing the problem."

The opportunity for a closer US-Russian partnership against the ISIL emerged as a result of both Russia’s military involvement in the Syria campaign and the conclusion on Monday that the Russian commercial airliner that crashed in Egypt on October 31 was brought down by a bomb, Coats explained.

The United States and Russia have so far limited their military coordination to tactical measures to avoid conflict in shared Syrian airspace.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Minster Sergei Shoigu said Russian Aerospace Forces doubled the number of sorties against terrorist targets in Syria during the first day of a newly-planned air campaign, which now involves strategic bombers.