Russia’s intervention in Syria is a “grave mistake” that’s threatening to stoke instability, British Prime Minister David Cameron said. He as now joined US President Barack Obama’s criticism of a bombing campaign that conflicts with U.S. strategy, Today Zaman daily reported.
Cameron, speaking as his Conservative Party’s annual conference, urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “change direction” and back U.K. and U.S. efforts by focusing attacks on ISIS, rather than striking western-backed rebel groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad.
Russia is “backing the butcher Assad, which is a terrible mistake for them and for the world,” Cameron told BBC Television’s “Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday. “It’s going to make the region more unstable, which will lead to further radicalization and increased terrorism.”
Obama said Saturday that Russia will get “stuck in a quagmire” if it persists in using military force to prop up Assad’s government. Russian warplanes began attacking targets in the country last week.
“I would say to them change direction, join us in attacking ISIL but recognize that if we want to have a secure region we need an alternative to Assad,” Cameron told Marr, using an alternative designation for Islamic State.
Assad “can’t unite the Syrian people.”
Cameron repeated his desire to extend current U.K. airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq to Syria, for which he’ll need parliamentary approval. The prime minister, speaking in Manchester, northwest England, also announced Sunday a doubling of the U.K’s drone fleet and increased funding for special forces “to combat the terrorist threat,” according to a Defence Ministry statement.