MOSCOW, Russia— The Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow and the Kurdistan region have maintained “some level of cooperation” in the war against the ISIS militants, although the Kurds are closer to the US-led coalition, he told Rudaw Thursday. “The Kurds have achieved a great deal. Apparently the US is coordinating with them very actively, but our military forces are also in touch with them,” Putin said. Speaking at a public event in the Russian capital on Thursday and in comments to Rudaw, Putin praised the peshmarga forces for their efforts against the ISIS and called the Kurds a “courageous people.” “We should see the Kurds as they are; they are a courageous people who have confronted the terrorists very effectively and bravely,” Putin said. Moscow has been a key ally of the Syrian president Bashar Assad, but it also maintained a friendly relation with Syria’s Kurds over the past year and pushed for their inclusion in the country’s ongoing peace talks. On Wednesday Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and former Kurdish prime minister Barham Salih met in Moscow to discuss the current developments of the war in Iraq. Russia was also the first European country to allow Syria’s Kurds officially open an office in Moscow. “The ISIS and Al-Nusra Front try to drive out the Kurds from their areas and we see this which is why we support the Kurds,” he added.
