US, Russia to Share Intelligence on Islamic State

The United States and Russia agreed  Tuesday to share intelligence on the Islamic State militants.

Following a three-hour meeting in Paris with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the two world powers had a major responsibility to find ways to cooperate on global issues.

Although Kerry stopped short of saying that Russia would join the U.S.led coalition against the Islamic State, he said that both the countries had agreed to start sharing intelligence on Islamic State militants and also to cooperate on other counter terrorism challenges in the region.

"We both recognize the need to destroy and ultimately defeat ISIL, to degrade their efforts and ultimately to defeat them," Kerry told a news conference, using the alternative name for the group.

"No decent country by any definition could support the horrors that are perpetrated by ISIL, and no civilized country should shirk its responsibility to stand up and be part of the effort to stamp out this disease," he said, reports Reuters.

Russia would also look at whether it could do more to help equip and train Iraqi military, Kerry said.

However, Kerry asked Russia to do more to help implement the ceasefire in Ukraine between the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian separatists. Russia must withdraw its forces and weapons from its border with Ukraine, Kerry said, adding that the U.S. and the world community would not accept any independence referendums held in rebel held areas of Ukraine.

Speaking separately, Lavrov expressed optimism about improving the relations between the two countries and confirmed that intelligence sharing between the two countries would begin.

 "We can cooperate better together to increase the effectiveness of settling problems for larger society. That especially concerns the fight against terrorism, which has now become the main threat to the whole Mideast," Lavrov said, reports the Associated Press.

Last month, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov  had called for a new "reset 2.0" in relations between Moscow and Washington.

In the initial period after Obama took office, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had gifted Lavrov with a red "reset" button intended to signal a new start in the relationship between the two countries. However, the move backfired as the Russian label corresponding to the word "Reset" showed "Overload".