MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — On Monday, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry stated that de Villiers would visit Moscow following a corresponding agreement with the French ministry.
"At this time we will not provide details on the agenda of the Chief of the Defence Staff [Pierre de Villiers]," the media relations team of the French Defence Staff said, adding that such information would be made available in the near future.
Russia and France are interested in intensifying their cooperation against the Islamic State (IS or its Arabic name Daesh) terrorist group after it took responsibility for the deadly terror attacks in Paris on November 13 as well as for the October 31 Russian A321 plane crash over Egypt.
Moscow has been carrying out precision airstrikes against Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia, in Syria since September 30, at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Paris has been bombing Daesh positions as part of a US-led coalition of some 60 nations in both Syria and Iraq.
