French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius
France demanded Wednesday that Russia confirm the targets of its air strikes in Syria, amid concerns they may not have been aimed at the Islamic State group, before accepting the enlarged coalition Moscow wants.
"Of course, we must fight together as hard as we can against Daesh," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in New York, using the group's Arabic acronym.
But he set three conditions for joining the Russian-proposed international coalition fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
Laurent Fabius said any air strikes must target Islamic State group and other "terrorist groups, not civilians or the moderate opposition."
There are "signs that the Russian strikes did not target Daesh," he said, calling for the targets of the Russian raids to be verified.
Laurent Fabius also called for an end to "indiscriminate bombings" by Syrian forces, indicating he had demanded before the United Nations Security Council that barrel bombs and chlorine attacks be banned in Syria.
Finally, Laurent Fabius called for a transition of power under which President Bashar al-Assad would step down in order to "give hope to the Syrian people again."
"The fate of the Syrian people cannot be limited to a horror scenario where they must choose between a criminal regime or barbaric terrorism," he said.
Russia's air strikes were its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.
Moscow plans to present a United Nations draft resolution to the Security Council on countering terrorism to build up the fight against Islamic State group.