THE PRIME Minister of Russia has branded the US "short-sighted and weak" in a scathing attack over failure to hold talks on coordinating airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
By LEVI WINCHESTER, Oct 19, 2015
Russia is currently in the midst of a bombing campaign against the twisted terror group after Moscow approved airstrikes in the war-torn country last month.
Washington officials have so far refused to meet with a representative from Russia to discuss coordinating attacks against the evil organisation, claiming that they will only talk when Moscow stops assisting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The US has accused Russia of only looking to prop up Assad's regime by bombing Syria - rather than tackling ISIS.
But President Vladimir Putin has since rubbished their claims and blasted their "unconstructive" stance last week at a meeting with the president of Kazakhstan.
And now the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has also waded into the dispute as he spoke of his bafflement over what he described as the "silly behaviour" of America.
He went to claim that "only Russia's involvement has changed the situation" of ISIS as he blasted the US for refusing to meet for bilateral talks.
Speaking to the Rossiya 1 TV station, he said: "I think that this is silly behaviour.
"As a result of these decisions and the cancellation of talks, the Americans have demonstrated their weakness.
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The Russian Prime Minister also took time to claim that it should be up to the Syrian people to determine their leader as he stressed that ISIS poses a threat to Russian national security.
His stern words to the West came just days after President Putin accused the US of looking like "they have nothing to talk about" in regards to proposed discussions on coordinating airstrikes against ISIS.
He said: "What apparently lies at the heart of the weakness of the American position is a lack of any kind of agenda."
Last week Mr Putin said he was willing to send a delegation – led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev – to discuss their positions on Syria.
This request was declined by Washington, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday confirmed.
A White House spokesman said at the time: "We've said that we're not interested in doing that as long as Russia is not willing to make a constructive contribution to our counter-[ISIS] effort."
"Russia has their own agenda, and it’s an agenda right now that they're pursuing on their own."