War with Isis: The West and Russia must work together to defeat the militants

The bombing of flight 9268 is exactly the sort of outrage that Russia, which already faces a domestic Islamist threat, simply has to combat

David Cameron called Vladimir Putin last week regarding the plane crash in Egypt (Getty)

Sometimes human feeling transcends politics. The Prime Minister was right to phone President Putin last week to sympathise on the destruction of the Russian flight over Sinai, as well as passing on the latest British intelligence. That he did so despite Russia’s inexcusable prevarication over the felling of flight MH17 in Ukraine last year makes the gesture even more compelling.

But the politics remain awkward. The Russians insist (with some justice) that inept Western policy in the Middle East has simply boosted instability and Islamism. The immediate remedy, they say, is to bolster President Assad in Syria, and so block another Islamic State (Isis) victory. We, on the other hand, view the unspeakable Assad as at the heart of the problem. He should go quickly. Right now, the Russians, with their vigorous military intervention, are calling the shots. The Assad regime appears to have been stabilised. And the West has grumpily joined talks on the way forward with former pariahs Russia and Iran.

This all inhibits sensible discussion of the Sinai air disaster. The UK has taken the lead in asserting that the cause was an Isis bomb, and it increasingly looks as if we are right. This will not be welcome news to Putin, which is why he has been so slow to accept it. While the Russians see their involvement in Ukraine as natural, they have nothing like the same feeling about Syria. Opinion polls (obsessively watched by the regime) were already showing popular nervousness about the operation. Why, many will ask, are Russians dying for a cause so far from home? Putin, of course, has an answer. The bombing of flight 9268 is exactly the sort of Isis outrage that Russia, which already faces a domestic Islamist threat, simply has to combat. He is more likely to redouble his efforts than pull back. But his contempt for Western policy will be reinforced by a feeling among much of the Russian elite that the West is not uncomfortable watching Russia pay in blood for its Syria adventure.

This nonsense has to end. David Cameron has stopped UK flights to Sharm el-Sheikh for exactly the same reason that Vladimir Putin has – to protect the lives of his citizens. And Cameron has given exactly the same reason for fighting Isis overseas as Putin has – to prevent jihadists coming home, bringing their bombs with them. There is far more that unites us than divides us on this issue.

The West has to overcome its pique at being upstaged by Russia, and Russia has to adjust its campaign to take better account of Western aims (and friends on the ground). It was John Donne who noted that, when the bell tolls, it does so for all of us. Last week’s victims were Russian. Next week’s could be British if we don’t find a better way of working together. All credit to the Prime Minister for beginning to edge things in that direction.

Tony Brenton is a former British ambassador to Moscow