Russia: "We stand for the formation of a united front against terrorism"- Lavrov

Russia stands for the formation of a united front to counter terrorism through the UN Security Council, as opposed to America's "one sided coaltion", said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on September 24. Lavrov slammed the U.S for forming their own coalition instead of approaching the Security Council first, deeming America's position "one sided". The foreign minister said however that he senses that the situation will take a turn, "recently it seems that something began to change, we are better heard, at least we are being listened to and, hopefully, are becoming heard more easily." Russia announced that it had conducted its first airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday, successfully hitting IS targets. On Thursday, more attacks hit militant targets in Maarrat al-Nu'man and al-Latamna. Prior to the strikes Russia's Federation Council gave its consent for the use of the Russian armed forces abroad at a closed-doors meeting. The consent does not include the use of ground forces. The move followed Russian President Vladimir Putin's UN General Assembly speech in which he called for an alliance against IS.