Russia, France collaboration against Islamic State in sight; views on Assad still differ

MOSCOW, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Russia may cooperate with the United States and France in the battle against the Islamic State as diplomatic discussions over the Syrian civil war continue.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio on Thursday "there is an opening, so to speak, with the Russians" on the potential collaboration between Moscow, Washington and Paris against the Islamic State militant group.

"We think they are sincere and we must bring together all our forces" to defeat the "monsters" of the Islamic State, Fabius said.

Fabius said Russian President Vladirmir Putin's proposal during the United Nations General Assembly in September of creating a grand coalition was a "good idea provided that Russia is concentrated against" the Islamic State, not against moderate rebels.

Bloomberg reported French President Francois Hollande has agreed to full-scale cooperation with Russia, citing two anonymous Russian sources. Hollande is scheduled to travel to Washington D.C. on Tuesday and then meet Putin in Moscow two days later.

Western leaders and Russia have often disagreed on the potential resolution of the Syrian civil war. Russia has maintained Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should remain in power while a new government is transitioned, while Western powers have argued Assad should have no future in Syria's affairs.

Russia, which began carrying out airstrikes against opponents of Assad late September, has recently diminished its support for Assad. The potential collaboration between Russia and Western leaders against the Islamic State could further see the alliance between Damascus and Moscow weaken.

Still, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday said a particular government's opinion about whether Assad should stay in power is irrelevant in the fight against IS.

"Assad is called a magnet, which attracts all terrorists. If this logic is followed, then it turns out that not only Assad is a magnet for the IS. Lebanon, Turkey, France and Egypt have also become magnets for the IS," he said.

Fabius said sometimes Russia and Iran are tempted to declare anyone who opposes Assad as a terrorist, whereas France and most of its allies reserve that title to the Islamic State and al-Qaida's Syrian branch, the Nusra Front.

The Islamic State's coordinated attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people have further ignited discussions on how to defeat the militant Islamist group and how to end the humanitarian and political crisis amid the Syrian civil war.