Russia, US Cooperation Essential for Stability in Middle East - Iraqi Lawmaker

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin told an annual press conference that Russia informed the United States about the movement of terrorists in the Middle East, but did not receive any reaction in response. Putin suggested that it was caused by the fact that the United States believed these militants could be used in the fight against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"Cooperation between Russia and the United States is important and essential for the win against all terrorist groups. No one can win the war alone," the chairman of the Iraqi Council of Representatives’ Foreign Affair Committee Abdulbari Zebari said.

The lawmaker stressed that it was difficult to reach global stability without ensuring the stability in the Middle East.

"There will be no regional stability without some kind of agreement or at least understanding between Russia and the United States," Zebari noted.

Russia has repeatedly called on the Western countries to unite efforts on combating terrorism by creating a joint anti-terror front. On December 6, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was ready to conduct a dialogue with the US-led coalition on assisting it in the elimination of terrorists in western Iraq. According to Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the attention of the US-led international coalition needs to focus on the destruction of militants in the western regions of Iraq to prevent the return of Daesh terrorist group to Syria and the revival of the so-called "caliphate" there.

Commenting on the Russian ministry's statement, US Department of Defense spokesman Eric Pahon told Sputnik that the collaboration between the United States and Russia against Daesh would require talks at the level of senior leadership or diplomatic circles as the US military were prohibited from doing that.