US reluctant to cooperate with Syrian authorities to rebuff Islamic State - Russian foreign minister

MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Moscow offered the United States to use the United Nations mandate to rebuff the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria but Washington did not do that saying the Syrian authorities are not legitimate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. "I asked [U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry why not apply to the United Nations Security Council for a mandate for coalition operations to support the Iraqi and Syrian government forces in their fight against the so-called Islamic State. The answer was very interesting," Lavrov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel. "I was told: ‘You know, we don’t consider the Syrian regime as a legitimate partner.’ But, I beg your pardon, just one year ago the Syrian regime was an absolutely legitimate partner to solve the problem of withdrawal and destruction of chemical weapons." Read more