Ash Carter discusses Russia during a briefing at the Pentagon. Carter: Russia airstrikes may not be targeting ISIL

Defense Secretary Ash Carter slammed the Russian airstrikes in Syria as "contradictory," telling reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday that Russian forces appeared to be targeting areas where there "probably were not" Islamic State forces.

Such strikes will only further "inflame" the situation on the ground, and Moscow is "ill-advised to take this kind of action in support of Assad only," he added.


"We have been observing Russian activities, and I don't want to go into detail about that at this time, but the reason, one of the reasons, why the Russian position is contradictory is exactly the potential for them to strike as they may well have in places where ISIL is not present ... others are present," Carter told reporters during an afternoon briefing.

The remarks come shortly after the White House said it could not conclude whether Moscow was specifically targeting ISIL or merely opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose regime the Russians have supported.

"The fact that Russia has to take these noteworthy steps to ramp up their support for Assad is an indication for just how concerned they are about losing influence in the one client state they have in the Middle East," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.