ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the Kremlin is ready to coordinate with the American-led coalition in an operation to force Islamic State (ISIS) from its Raqqa stronghold in Syria. "We are ready to coordinate our actions with the Americans, because Raqqa is in the eastern part of Syria, and the American coalition is mainly ... acting there," he told a Russian broadcaster according to Interfax news on Monday. "Perhaps, this is no secret, if I say at some stage the Americans suggested performing a 'division of labour': the Russian Air Forces should concentrate on the liberation of Palmyra, and the American coalition with Russian support will focus on the liberation of Raqqa," he added. While both the Americans and the Russians have their air forces operating in Syria they have not coordinated operations, primarily because the Americans are opposed to working with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Russia's ally in the country. They have also accused Russia of not targeting ISIS but focusing the brunt of its firepower against other armed groups opposing Assad. Russia stepped up its bombings of the ancient ISIS-occupied city of Palmyra last week leading to renewed speculation that they may be clearing the way for a Syrian ground offensive aimed at retaking that city.
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