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Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) and his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil following a meeting in Moscow on Thursday. Image Credit: REUTERS

Moscow:Russia said Wednesday that following the carnage in Paris it was now clear that global powers should unite without any preconditions on the fate of Syria’s embattled leader Bashar Al Assad.

“It seems to me there are no longer any doubts that it is simply unacceptable to put forward any pre-conditions for joining forces in the fight against terror,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after meeting his counterpart from Lebanon Gebran Bassil in Moscow. Russia, which views Syria as its closest Middle East ally, has long been at odds with the West over Al Assad’s future with Moscow saying only the Syrian people should decide if he steps down. The United States and others want Al Assad to step aside during or at the end of a transition period.

“I hope the change in the position of our Western colleagues, which has unfortunately only come about as the result of terrible acts of terror, will spread to other Western partners. That the stance that the real battle with Daesh can only be resolved once the fate of Al Assad is clear, that this position will put to one side,” said Lavrov.

After the Paris massacre that claimed the lives of at least 129 people last Friday, French President Francois Hollande has called for the creation of a broad anti-Daeshcoalition and will discuss the proposal with both US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.

Lavrov expressed hope that other Western powers would follow suit and would be more open to cooperating with Moscow in Syria.

“I hope that the change in position of our Western colleagues - which unfortunately came at the cost of the terrible terror attacks - will be seen on the part of our other Western partners,” Russia’s top diplomat said.

To help “mobilise a genuinely global coalition,” the UN Security Council should put together a firm “legal basis” that would enable global powers to fight Daesh together, Lavrov said without providing further details.

He also denied that an agreement on the fate of Al Assad had been reached at the latest round of talks in Vienna last week.

Putin has been seeking to capitalise on shifting dynamics in the West following Friday’s terror attacks in Paris and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai in October, reiterating his call for Russia and the West to unite against a common enemy.