John Key says NZ will not sign up to Putin's 'anti-Hitler' coalition

Mr Key said it was not New Zealand's intention to sign up to such a coalition. Photo / Getty

Claire Trevett reports from New York

Prime Minister John Key says New Zealand will not rush to sign up to a grand "anti-Hitler" coalition against Islamic State proposed by Russian's President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Putin gave a blistering speech in the General Assembly yesterday that included proposing a grand alliance of countries - including the US - cooperating with Syria's Bashar al-Assad to defeat Islamic State.

Mr Key said it was not New Zealand's intention to sign up to such a coalition and he believed it had done the right thing with its current mission at the US base in Iraq. He said working alongside the US rather than Russia was "our historical perspective and I don't see that changing in a hurry." However, he said if Putin was genuine about Islamic State it could be a good starting point.

"In the end, Russia has a lot of clout over there. Everyone has a collective view there needs to be change so it's a good starting point.

"If we take him at his word, then his aim is to focus his attentions on Isil. If that's the case, that's to be welcomed. Like all of these things there are plots and sub-plots but on the Isil front we are united in the view they are causing an enormous amount of damage, heartache and there is an unsustainable situation in Syria."

However he said that would be difficult while the US and Russia were so far apart on issues from Ukraine to the Assad regime. Mr Key believed Mr Putin's aggressive approach was aimed at the domestic audience in Russia. "Vladimir Putin has his own way of operating. He's quite aggressive in the things he both does and says. It actually plays very well domestically for him in Russia."

In his speech, Mr Putin said it would be a big mistake not to involve Assad given it was predominantly Assad's and Kurdish forces fighting on the ground in Syria.

His call came as the United States and Australia signalled they may tolerate Assad remaining on in the short term to ensure there was no leadership vacuum in Syria and enable them to focus on Islamic State first.

Speaking to New Zealand's media, Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop bristled when it was suggested Australia had 'softened' its position. She said it was instead a "managed compromise" suggested by Obama. "What Australia is saying is that no option should be taken off the table. I don't see a long term role for President Assad but if there is a solution that involved President Assad in the short term then surely that should remain on the table."

She said Islamic State had to be defeated as soon as possible. "The first order of business must be to defeat this terrorist organisation.

We are being realistic about the prospects of trying to achieve a political solution while the focus must be primarily on defeating the Isis/ Daesh terrorist organisation."

However, not all leaders were impressed with this apparent move to cooperate in any way with Assad. French President Francois Hollande bridled at the suggestion of cooperation with Assad, saying he was at the root of the problem so could not be part of the solution. "You cannot put together victims and those who are killing them."