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French defence minister to fly to Moscow to better coordinate strikes against IS

Xinhua, December 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian will travel to Russia on Sunday to discuss ways to improve military cooperation fighting against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, the ministry's spokesman Pierre Bayle announced on Thursday.

During his two-day visit starting on Dec. 20 , Le Drian would "discuss the modalities of coordination of the fight against Daech," Bayle was quoted as saying by local media.

"(The visit) is part of international efforts to strengthen the coalition against Daech," he added.

France was the first European state to join U.S.-led coalition to combat the insurgents in Syria. However, Paris and Moscow are not coordinated their strikes in the conflict-torn country.

Pledging to force a strong international front to fight IS in the wake of Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande flew last month to Moscow where he agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to put aside differences on the Syrian issue and step up strikes against the radical cell. Endit