![Article Image](https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/001-0928074113-Russia-Bear.png)
IPFS News Link • WAR: About that War
Russia Surprises U.S. With Accord on Battling ISIS
• http://www.nytimes.comUNITED NATIONS — For the second time this month, Russia moved to expand its political and military influence in the Syria conflict and left the United States scrambling, this time by reaching an understanding, announced on Sunday, with Iraq, Syria and Iran to share intelligence about the Islamic State.
Like Russia's earlier move to bolster the government of President Bashar al-Assad by deploying warplanes and tanks to a base near Latakia, Syria, the intelligence-sharing arrangement was sealed without notice to the United States. American officials knew that a group of Russian military officers were in Baghdad, but they were clearly surprised when the Iraqi military's Joint Operations Command announced the intelligence sharing accord on Sunday.
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage
Russian President Vladimir Putin to Focus on Syria at U.N.SEPT. 27, 2015
News Analysis: On Syria, Putin Is Catering to an Audience at HomeSEPT. 26, 2015
Thousands Enter Syria to Join ISIS Despite Global EffortsSEPT. 26, 2015
Putin Sees Path to Diplomacy Through SyriaSEPT. 16, 2015
It was another sign that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was moving ahead with a sharply different tack from that of the Obama administration in battling the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, by assembling a rival coalition that includes Iran and the Syrian government.
--------------
Secretary of State John Kerry and Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, met Sunday amid tensions between the countries. Credit Dominick Reuter/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images