MOSCOW — Russia on Thursday urged the United States and its allies to engage the Syrian government as a “partner” in the fight against the Islamic State group, and offered to share any information about its military supplies to Damascus with Washington.

New satellite imagery, meanwhile, showed the recent arrival of Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and other military equipment at an air base in Syria’s coastal Latakia province, confirming a military buildup.

FILE - In this file photo released Wednesday, March 4, 2015, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with Portuguese state television, RTP, in Damascus, Syria. Speaking in an interview with Russian media, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, Assad said the refugee crisis now hitting Europe is a direct result of the West’s support of “terrorists” in Syria. The Russian president has said it is impossible to defeat the Islamic State group without cooperating with Damascus, and in recent days has sent about a half-dozen battle tanks and other weaponry to Syria. (AP Photo/SANA, File) The Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov say Moscow’s assistance is necessary for Syria to defeat the Islamic State. The Associated Press

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking after talks with his Turkish counterpart in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, said the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq should coordinate its action with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in conformity with international law.

“There is no reason to evade cooperation with the Syrian leadership, which confronts that terror threat,” Lavrov said. He added that “the Syrian president commands the most capable ground force fighting terrorism.”

“Rejecting such a possibility, ignoring the capability of the Syrian army as a partner and ally in the fight against the IS means sacrificing security of the entire region for political or geopolitical intentions and calculations,” he said.

Washington, which has seen Assad as the cause of the Syrian crisis, has been concerned by an ongoing Russian military buildup in Syria and warned Moscow that it could further destabilize the situation. The U.S. said that Russia has ferried equipment, supplies and military personnel to Syria with the apparent goal of setting up an air base near the coastal town of Latakia, a stronghold of the Syrian president.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Lavrov offered Tuesday to have military-to-military talks and meetings on the situation in Syria. Kerry suggested that he favored such consultations.

The satellite imagery show six main battle tanks, 26 armored personnel carriers, and recently deployed helicopters and artillery battery guns. The equipment apparently arrived between Sept. 4 and 15.

The imagery also confirms new and extensive construction, including a new taxiway being built at the air base inside the Basel Assad International Airport possibly in preparation for Russian troop arrivals.

It is the only functioning airport in the country besides the international airport in Damascus, and is therefore of great importance to the government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Moscow has supplied weapons to Syria and sent military personnel to train its military to fight the Islamic State.

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