Reuters, Erbil :
U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford played down the chances of Russia joining the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State in Iraq in the near future as he made his first trip to Iraq as top U.S. military official.
Russia’s military intervention in Syria and its participation in a new Baghdad-based intelligence-sharing cell with Iran, Syria and Iraq has raised concerns in Washington that its Cold War rival is gaining influence in the Middle East.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Oct. 1, the same day Dunford took over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he would welcome Russian air strikes against Islamic State militants in his country.
But Dunford said U.S. officials had since been reassured that Abadi had made no such request to Moscow.
“Subsequent to that, U.S. officials engaged Abadi and he did not request Russian air strikes,” Dunford told reporters travelling with him.
Russia’s military intervention in Syria has radically changed the landscape in the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State, which seized vast tracts of Iraq and Syria last year.
Iraqi officials are frustrated with the pace and depth of the U.S. military campaign against Islamic State.
U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford played down the chances of Russia joining the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State in Iraq in the near future as he made his first trip to Iraq as top U.S. military official.
Russia’s military intervention in Syria and its participation in a new Baghdad-based intelligence-sharing cell with Iran, Syria and Iraq has raised concerns in Washington that its Cold War rival is gaining influence in the Middle East.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Oct. 1, the same day Dunford took over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he would welcome Russian air strikes against Islamic State militants in his country.
But Dunford said U.S. officials had since been reassured that Abadi had made no such request to Moscow.
“Subsequent to that, U.S. officials engaged Abadi and he did not request Russian air strikes,” Dunford told reporters travelling with him.
Russia’s military intervention in Syria has radically changed the landscape in the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State, which seized vast tracts of Iraq and Syria last year.
Iraqi officials are frustrated with the pace and depth of the U.S. military campaign against Islamic State.
