AFP, Paris :The US and French defence ministers on Wednesday condemned Moscow’s role in the Syria conflict, saying Russian jets should stop targeting the opposition forces fighting the Islamic State group.”The Russians are on the wrong track strategically and also in some cases tactically,” said US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter after a meeting in Paris of seven defence ministers in the coalition fighting IS.”We don’t have a basis for broader cooperation (with Russia),” Carter said.His French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian said, for his part: “We hope that Russia will concentrate its efforts against Daesh (the Arabic acronym for IS) and stop bombing the groups of the uprising (against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) who themselves are fighting Daesh.” At the same time on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was ready to work more closely with the US-led coalition to help facilitate aid deliveries inside Syria.Speaking after talks with his US counterpart John Kerry in Zurich, Switzerland, he said: “We spoke about how the Russian air force, when planning its actions, takes into account the programmes that the UN humanitarian organisations, the Red Cross and other NGOs carry out.
