Putin Agrees To Cooperate With France’s Call For Coordinated Fight Against Terrorism

This story was updated at 4:06 p.m. EST.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he’s ready for cooperation with France in the fight against terrorism, Agence France-Presse reported. Putin’s statements came during a meeting with French President François Hollande who is trying to drum up a global counterterrosim coalition in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks perpetuated by gun-and-bomb-wielding ISIS sympathizers.

Tying the attacks in the French capital with the bombing of a Russian passenger jet over the Sinai on Oct. 31, Putin said during a meeting his French counterpart the two terrorist acts "make us unite our efforts against the common evil . . . we are ready for this cooperation.”

Following a closed-door meeting in Moscow, both leaders said they have agreed to share intelligence on bombing campaign in Syria. Hollande said the two sides agreed that it was important to “not strike forces that are fighting terrorism,” but he didn’t elaborate.

Russia supports President Bashar Assad and views all militants operating inside Syria as the enemy, including Free Syrian Army rebels that are caught between religiously radicalized militants and Assad’s forces. Following the meeting with Putin, Hollande said Assad has no place in Syria’s future, a stance Russia opposes. But Hollande welcomed Putin’s gesture of cooperation, referring to ISIS, or the so-called Islamic State group, by its deprecatory name used by Arab reporters in the Middle East who opposes using the group’s description of being “Islamic.”

"Our enemy is Daesh, Islamic State, it has territory, an army and resources, so we must create this large coalition to hit these terrorists," Hollande said in televised remarks prior to his meeting with Putin, according to Reuters. "I'm in Moscow with you to see how we can act together and coordinate so that we can strike this terrorist group, but also reach a solution for peace."

(Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the terrorist group’s original name, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, which rhymes with or suggests numerous derogatory words and concepts, including “committer of heinous crimes.” )

Despite Putin’s accommodating remarks, Russia announced Thursday that it was cutting military ties to Turkey in response to the shooting down of its Sukhoi Su-24M aircraft on Tuesday by the Turkish Air Force.

"Today, in accordance with a previously made decision, all cooperation channels have been cut between the Russian Defense Ministry and the Turkish Armed Forces," ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters, according to the pro-Russian Sputnik news agency.

On Thursday, Russian and Syrian fighter jets bombed the area near the location of the Sukhoi Su-24M crash site. "Terrorists and other mysterious groups acting in the area were destroyed," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.

Russia is supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country’s years-long civil war, and Moscow doesn’t distinguish groups like ISIS from anti-Assad rebels that have received support from the U.S. and Gulf regional allies.