Vladimir Putin wants Paris to map out places not to bomb

Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked France to draw up a map of where groups fighting Islamic State militants operate in Syria in order not to bomb them, France’s foreign minister said on Friday.

French President Francois Hollande and Mr Putin agreed during talks in Moscow on Thursday to exchange intelligence on ISIS and other rebel groups to improve the effectiveness of their aerial bombing campaigns in Syria. “He asked us to draw up a map of forces that are not terrorists and are fighting Daesh (ISIS) omitted to not bombing them once we’ve provided that,” foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on RTL after accompanying Mr Hollande to Moscow.

The West has accused Moscow of targeting mostly Western-backed rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad instead of ISIS. France has stepped up it aerial bombing campaign of ISIS targets in Syria since the group claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris.