French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius arrives to take part in a EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on September 4, 2015. (AFP /JOHN THYS)
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius accused Russia Tuesday of displaying bravado on the Syria crisis that had yet to be backed up with action against the Islamic State group.
“You have to look at who is doing what. The international community is striking Daesh. France is striking Daesh. The Russians, for the time being, are not at all,” Fabius told a news conference in New York, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
“If one is against the terrorists, it is not abnormal to strike the terrorists,” Fabius added.
His comments come a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the United Nations General Assembly, calling for a “broad coalition” to fight the IS group in Syria.
Moscow, which does not rule out future strikes against IS, recently bolstered its military presence in a regime stronghold in northwestern Syria.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, addresses the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly September 28, 2015 at the UN in New York. (AFP/ TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
“In essence, what is important in the fight against Daesh is not the media strike but the actual strike. The equation is simple enough: those who are against Daesh are those striking Daesh,” Fabius said.
France is part of an anti-IS coalition led by the United States in Iraq and Syria. Paris carried out its first strike Sunday, on the eve of the opening of the UN General Assembly.
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