MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax) - The United States makes a mistake when it refuses to cooperate with Russia in fighting the Islamic State (ISIL) group in Syria, and it only delays the measures that need to be taken in this issue, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, Konstantin Kosachyov, has said.
"Beyond any doubt, the U.S. is pursuing a mistaken strategy all over the world, including in Syria. Americans cling to their errors because recognizing the fairness and the effectiveness of Russia's activities will directly prove that the American strategy has turned out to be a mistake," Kosachyov told reporters during a visit to Kenya by a Federation Council delegation.
The Russian senator offered his comments in response to remarks made by the U.S. secretary of defense, who said that the U.S. would not cooperate with Russia to fight ISIL in Syria until Russia changed its strategy.
It is "an attempt to 'put a brave face on a sorry business', but even such an attempt is unsuccessful," Kosachyov said.
"What Russia is doing is obviously effective. Russia's measures may eventually become a turning point both in the development of the Syrian situation and the entire problem linked with the activities of Islamic State. But, even if it sounds ironical, for the United States of America such an outcome is far less acceptable, far less desirable than any further activities of Islamic State and the chaos that continues in Syria itself," Kosachyov said.
But "truth will prevail" sooner or later, he said.
"It is no more than delaying the affirmation of the events that are supposed happen. This is the kind of mistake that is even worse than a crime because, as a result, we are losing time and losing an opportunity for actual cooperation both between our armed forces and our special services," the senator said.
Kosachyov believes that in the long run, such a situation would play into the hands of the common opponents and adversaries of Russia and the U.S. in the Middle East.
As for Washington's refusal to cooperate with Moscow in sharing intelligence data, such information could help significantly boost the effectiveness of Russia's air campaign against terrorists in Syria, but this refusal would definitely not lower "the existing level of this effectiveness," he said.
"Any exchange of information always facilitates the transfer of such information. I am convinced that Americans have information that is important for us, information that we could use. But, as far as I understand, the volume of information that the Russian side has today is quite enough to ensure the effectiveness of this operation," Kosachyov said.