Putin Says U.S. Playing 'Double Game' With Middle East Terrorist Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested this week that the U.S. is playing a "double game" with its Middle East policy against terrorist groups. Putin's comments are the latest contribution to growing tension between Russia and the U.S. on Middle East policy.

Putin made his comments at a recent event in Russia, suggesting that the United States' strategy in the Middle East is angled primarily at backing its own interests, rather than defeating terrorist groups like the Islamic State.

"It's always hard to play a double game: to declare a fight against terrorists, but at the same time try to use some of them to move the pieces on the Middle Eastern chessboard in your own favor," Putin said during a meeting of politicians.

"There's no need to play with words and split terrorists into moderate and not moderate. I would like to know what the difference is," the Russian president added.

Putin's comments are the latest in an ongoing exchange between the U.S. and Russia regarding their differing approaches to the current crisis in the Middle East, primarily relating to Islamic State strongholds in Syria.

The United States has accused Russia of aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by attacking his opponents, alhough it has claimed it is targeting Islamic State strongholds through a series of airstrikes.

Despite Putin's recent comments, a senior official for the Obama administration told CNN that at Putin's request, the U.S. and Russia will meet at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.

"Given the situations in Ukraine and Syria, despite our profound differences with Moscow, the President believes that it would be irresponsible not to test whether we can make progress through high-level engagement with the Russians," the official said.