Lavrov: It is impossible to fight ISIS without Syrian leadership

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is convinced that the international coalition won’t defeat the militants of Islamic State without cooperating with the Syrian authorities.

"The coalition exists, strikes, everyone, including publicly, recognizes that some of the air strikes on ISIS will not bring any results, because they need to be ground operations. I do not see how you can do that without the Syrian government. The Iraqi army, including the newly created Shiite units and the Kurdish Peshmerga, actively coordinate their actions and are trying to recapture the towns and territories under the rule of Islamic State. I am convinced that the Syrian leadership is ready to act similarly," the minister said in the program International Review on the 'Russia 24' channel.