Putin set to shift U.N. spotlight on Syria

MOSCOW — With dozens of Russian combat jets and helicopter gunships lined up at an air base in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for a big-time show at the United Nations General Assembly.

Observers expect the Russian leader to call for stronger U.N.-sanctioned global action against the Islamic State and possibly announce some military moves in his speech on Monday. He is also to meet on the same day with President Barack Obama.

Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, believes that Putin’s moves in Syria are intended to “take the dialogue with the West out of the Ukrainian impasse.”

“Syria and the Middle East in general are the problems that attract global attention, and we raise our status by returning there as active players,” said Lukyanov, who has strong official connections as the head of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, an association of Russia’s top foreign policy experts.

The Russian moves in Syria are also aimed at securing what is left of the Syrian state after a series of defeats suffered by President Bashar Assad’s army, and saving Alawites from being massacred, Lukyanov said.

Putin has been coy about his goals.

Putin and his officials have said only that Russia has provided weapons and training to the Syrian military to help it combat the Islamic State. Asked if the Kremlin could send troops to fight the extremist group, Putin answered that “we are looking at various options.” His spokesman said Moscow would consider Syria’s request for Russian troops to help combat the Islamic State if Damascus were to ask.

Worried by the threat of Russian and U.S. jets clashing inadvertently in Syrian skies, Washington has agreed to talk to Moscow on how to “deconflict” their military actions. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter had a 50-minute phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, the first such military-to-military discussion between the two countries in more than a year.

Israel acted similarly, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting Moscow this week to agree with Putin on a coordination mechanism to avoid any possible confrontation between Israeli and Russian forces in Syria.

For the European Union’s part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early Thursday that Assad should be part of any negotiations with the West.

“We have to speak with many actors, this includes Assad, but others as well,” Merkel was quoted as saying at a news conference after an EU summit in Brussels.

Merkel said negotiations should not only be held with the U.S. and Russia “but with important regional partners, Iran, and Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia.”

The U.S. in particular has been staunchly opposed to negotiating with Iran over Syria. Iran — along with Russia — is the strongest backer of Assad.

In Syria, however, Assad’s fight against the Islamic State continues.

On Thursday, Syrian government planes carried out several airstrikes and dropped barrel bombs on the Islamic State-controlled city of Palmyra for the third straight day, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee their homes in the ancient city, activists said.

The bombardment, which included at least six barrel bombs on Thursday alone, did not ease up even as Muslims began marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, said a Palmyra resident.

Most of the city’s few remaining residents have hunkered down in shelters, while hundreds fled early in the morning in rented buses to Raqqa, another Islamic State-controlled city about 170 miles from Palmyra, said the resident. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his life.