US Avoids partnering with Russia against ISIS, fears losing credibility

The White House refrains from cooperation with Russia in fighting the Islamic State over fears of losing its face after waging a propaganda war against Russia and Syrian President Bashar Assad, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party told Sputnik Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that Washington would cooperate with Russia in anti-ISIL fight, but only if Moscow accepted the US political strategy to remove Assad from power.

"The White House is persistently ignoring the Russian call for cooperation in fight against the Islamic State as they [are] afraid it will affect their credibility and prestige in front of the international community and their own people after they waged a propaganda war against Russia and Bashar Assad," Tarek Ahmad said.

Last week, the US government acknowledged that its support for the Free Syrian Army had proved to be a fiasco and announced it was going to send military aid to other groups fighting Islamic State.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow, Washington and Brussels should work together to encourage warring parties in Syria to engage in dialogue for a political settlement.

A US-led international coalition has been conducting airstrikes on ISIL positions in Syria without the approval of either the UN Security Council or Damascus since 2014.

On September 30, Russia began pinpoint airstrikes against ISIL in Syria, following a request from Assad.

International law permits the use of force in a foreign country only if it has been authorized by the UN Security Council, as an act of self-defense, or at the request of the country’s authorities.