THE US-LED “coalition” against Syria warned Russia against continuing its new air war against Islamic State (Isis) and other terrorists.

A joint statement by France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Britain and the United States expressed “concern,” claiming the Russian campaign would “only fuel more extremism and radicalisation.”

Syrian-based Saudi fundamentalist Abdullah al-Muhaysini chimed in with the Western powers, warning that the country would become a “graveyard for invaders.”

The coalition’s main complaint was that Russia’s intervention would strengthen the Syrian government against Western-backed rebels.

Russia has more than 50 aircraft, including transport planes and helicopters, operating from a recently upgraded base in Latakia on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

They include Su-24 and Su-34 long-range strike aircraft and Su-25 battlefield close-support jets.

Su-30 air-superiority fighters have also been deployed to the base, which lies strategically between the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus and the Syrian hinterland and just over 100 miles from the US Incirlik air base at Adana in Turkey.

Russian and US defence officials are working together to ensure that the two countries’ air forces do not come into conflict over Syria.

Complicating the matter is the presence of US-trained and equipped rebels that Washington has pledged to defend if they are attacked.

At the United Nations on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded to allegations that his country’s forces were not only targeting terrorist organisations but also Western-backed “moderate” rebels.

“If it looks like a terrorist, if it acts like a terrorist, if it walks like a terrorist, if it fights like a terrorist, it’s a terrorist, right?” he said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was typically bellicose, declaring: “What is important is Russia has to not be engaged in any activities against anybody but Isil (as Isis is also known).”

But in an interview with Venezuelan television, Mr Lavrov said the era of a unipolar world was over.

“Old habits die hard,” he consoled the US. “Parting with one’s sense of global dominion is not easy and this process is going to be long and painful, but I’m sure that, in the long haul, we’ll agree on the need to redistribute our responsibilities from conflict resolution to economics to finance and trade.”