WASHINGTON is set to offer Moscow co-operation against Syrian terrorists, a leaked document revealed yesterday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry travelled to Moscow for talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before meeting President Vladimir Putin.

But before his departure the Washington Post published a leaked proposal calling for joint bombing operations, a command and-control headquarters and other combined efforts.

US and Russian officials with expertise in intelligence, targeting and air operations would “work together to defeat” the extremist groups, the eight-page paper stated. Mr Kerry refused to comment on the report.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reminded reporters that Mr Putin “has always said that Moscow believes an efficient fight against terrorism in Syria and beyond is only possible through collaborative effort.”

“Putin has regretted, on numerous occasions, that our American partners have turned down such co-operation,” he added.

Mr Kerry had in the past sought to shield the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s Syrian branch, from Russian bombing on the basis that it was intermingled with Western-backed insurgents.

CIA spooks were said to be furious at Mr Kerry’s overtures to Moscow after Russia allegedly bombed two bases used by their proxy forces near the Jordanian border this week.

Meanwhile, US news network NBC broadcast an interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in which he said Washington was “managing” terrorist groups in its bid to overthrow the government and that US air strikes on his country — ostensibly targeting Islamic State — were “illegal and counterproductive.”

He rejected continued Western demands for a political transition, saying: “Only the Syrian people define who’s going to be the president, when to come, and when to go. They never said a single word regarding this.

“As long as I have the support of the Syrian people, I don’t care about what anybody else says, including the US president,” said Mr Assad.

The situation for Western-backed militants in Syria’s second city Aleppo worsened further on Wednesday when the army liberated the northern Khalidiyeh district and most of the al-Layramoun industrial area, west of Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud along the crucial Castello Road.

UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura said he hoped the Moscow meeting would yield progress on a peace deal.