BAGHDAD: Iraq may request Russian airstrikes against ISIS on its soil soon and wants Moscow to have a bigger role than the United States in the war against the militant group, the head of parliament’s defense and security committee said Wednesday.

“In the upcoming few days or weeks, I think Iraq will be forced to ask Russia to launch airstrikes, and that depends on their success in Syria,” Hakim al-Zamili, a leading Shiite politician, said in an interview.

The comments were the clearest signal yet that Baghdad intends to lean on Russia in the war on ISIS U.S.-led coalition airstrikes produced limited results.

Russian military action in Iraq would deepen U.S. fears that it is losing more ground to rivals in one of the world’s most critical regions.

Russia is weighing in behind President Bashar Assad with airstrikes in Syria while its ally Iran holds deep sway in Iraq, including military advisers who help direct the battle against ISIS.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he would welcome Russian airstrikes on ISIS militants in Iraq and powerful Iranian-backed militias hope for a partnership with Russia to counter U.S. influence.

“We are seeking to see Russia have a bigger role in Iraq. ... Yes, definitely a bigger role than the Americans,” Zamili said.

Shiite militias, long mistrustful of the United States, see Russia’s intervention as an opportunity to turn the tables.

Russia’s drive for more clout in the Middle East includes a new security and intelligence-sharing agreement with Iran, Iraq and Syria with a command center in Baghdad.

“We believe that this center will develop in the near future to be a joint operation command to lead the war against Daesh in Iraq,” said Zamili, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Washington has been pressuring Abadi to rein in Shiite militias, angering forces seen as a bulwark against the ultra-hard-line ISIS.

Abadi was frustrated by the U.S.-led coalition’s performance against ISIS, which has threatened to march on Baghdad and wants to redraw the map of the Middle East.

Military sources said army commanders complained in a letter sent to Abadi in early September of inadequate U.S. support in the battle for Iraq’s biggest refinery near the town of Beiji, a focal point in the campaign to dislodge ISIS.

Abadi was incensed by tough accusations by U.S. officials that Iraqi government troops lacked the will to fight the militants, government sources said.

Delayed delivery of U.S. arms was one of the factors that pushed Abadi to strike a security deal with Russia, the sources said.

“We are still losing lives and losing billions of dollars in oil revenues by purchasing arms from United States, but what we really got from them was only promises and dozens of delayed arms deals,” Zamili said.

Baghdad-based analyst and former army General Jasim al-Bahadli said tensions with the United States were one of the reasons why Abadi turned to Moscow for help.

“Abadi, it seems, succeeded in sending a clear message to the American administration, which repeatedly blamed Abadi’s forces for recent setbacks, that there is another alternative for Iraq to resort to in the fight against Daesh if you are not willing to show real support,” Bahadli said.

“The United States has been worried by the growing influence of Iran in Iraq and worries should be doubled after the Russians took the lead in Iraq and Syria.”

Despite his frustrations with Washington, Abadi risks becoming isolated by a new dynamic dominated by Russia.

He has depended heavily on U.S. support and is at odds with the militias and their Iranian backers.

But with ISIS showing no signs of weakening, the priority will be finding a formula for stability and key players are embracing Russia.

Despite Iraqi misgivings about the strength of American support, Iraqi forces have retaken several areas north and west of Ramadi, officials said Wednesday.

An operation involving 2,000 troops backed by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition led to the recapture of several neighborhoods from ISIS.

A brigadier general from the Anbar operations command said those included Zankura, Albu Jleib, Al-Adnaniyah and parts of Albu Risha and an area known as Kilometer 5.

“The Iraqi security forces also took control of the main road west of Ramadi and they are now using it to support the forces positioned to liberate Ramadi,” Adhal Fahdawi, a member of the provincial council, told AFP.

According to the U.S.-led coalition’s daily tally of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, a total of 27 strikes have been conducted in the Ramadi area since the start of October.

“The coalition’s air support has played a big part in this progress,” Fahdawi said.

“If operations continue at this pace, I expect the liberation of Ramadi to be possible by the end of the month.”

Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, admitted last week that the Ramadi operation had essentially been on “pause” for some time.