Russia has no plans to join US anti-terror coalition - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Moscow is not planning to join the US-led counter-terrorist coalition as its actions in Syria without a permission from Damascus and the UN Security Council are illegal, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said on Tuesday. "We are not opposed joint struggle against the Islamic State but we cannot join the coalition on its current conditions as they are not in line with the international law," Maria Zakharova said adding that the coalition’s actions in Iraq were legal as it had Baghdad’s consent. "If the coalition took similar steps towards Syria, they would be absolutely legal," she added. "We refuse to take part in illegal operations," Zakharova said. "We had the same position ten years ago during the Iraq campaign and we were right." "We will not take part in anything illegal as there is no permission of the UN Security Council and the capital [Damascus]," she added. Read more