MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin Tuesday slammed Washington for refusing to share intelligence with Russia on Syria, accusing it of muddled thinking.

“I believe some of our partners simply have mush for brains,” Putin said, expressing some of his strongest criticism yet of Washington’s handling of the Syrian crisis.

Late last month Moscow launched a bombing campaign in Syria, saying it needed to target ISIS militants before they cross into Russia, which has a large Muslim population.

But Washington and its allies slammed Russia’s intervention in the conflict, saying Moscow was also targeting Western-backed moderate rebels and sought to prop up the regime of Bashar Assad.

“Now, we often hear that our pilots are striking the wrong targets, not ISIS,” Putin said at an investment forum in Moscow explaining that Russia had asked Washington to provide a list of targets.

But Washington declined.

“‘No, we are not ready for this’ was the answer,” Putin quoted them as saying.

“Then we thought again and asked another question: then tell us where we should not strike. No answer too,” he said, adding: “That is not a joke. I did not make this up.”

“How is it possible to work together?” he asked. “I think some of our partners simply have mush for brains, they do not have a clear understanding of what really happens in the country and what goals they are seeking to achieve.”

He also took issue with a decision by a U.S.-led coalition to parachute in ammunition to rebels in Syria, saying the weapons could end up in the wrong hands.

U.S. forces Sunday airdropped small arms ammunition and other supplies to Syrian Arab and Kurdish rebels in the east of the country. The rebels there said the arms supplies could mark the preparation for an offensive in the coming weeks against the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa city.

In turn, Turkey Tuesday warned the United States and Russia that it would not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains by Kurdish militia close to its frontiers in northwestern Syria, two senior officials said.

In televised comments over the weekend, Putin acknowledged that Russia wanted to buttress the Syrian regime, saying Moscow’s task was to “stabilize the legitimate authorities and create conditions for the search of political compromise.”

“We are not striving for some sort of leadership on Syria,” he said at Tuesday’s forum.

Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir reiterated that Riyadh’s position on Syria had not changed, insisting that Assad had no future in Syria. Jubeir spoke at a joint news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

Fabius called on Russia to use its influence to stop Assad from using barrel bombs in Syria and said Paris wanted to ensure that Syrian institutions would remain strong and did not want to see any further chaos in the country.

Also Tuesday, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and top Iranian officials discussed ways to bring peace to Syria and combat ISIS, a statement said.

In the highest level talks since Mogherini visited Tehran in July in the wake of the historic Iran nuclear deal, she and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met for three hours, followed by talks between senior officials.

“There was an agreement that only a political track, that involves all parties, can ensure a stable solution to the conflict in Syria and to this end a joint effort of all the relevant regional and international actors is required,” the statement issued by the EU said.

“The dire humanitarian situation was also highlighted,” it said of a conflict which has cost more than 400,000 lives and displaced 12 million people, half the population.

Mogherini and EU foreign ministers repeated Monday that Assad should have no role in a future Syria but called for an “inclusive transition” process to a new government which could involve representatives of the regime.

Some EU member states believe it is inevitable that Assad plays some interim role but others such as Britain and France are staunchly opposed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, said that Russia’s operation in Syria does not rule out a political settlement of the conflict.

Lavrov met Tuesday with Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Syria for the first time since the Kremlin launched its campaign.

De Mistura urged Russia to help speed along a political resolution in Syria, saying airstrikes against anti-government forces had shifted the dynamics of the 4-year-old conflict.

Russia should use its influence on the ground in Syria to push for a peaceful settlement, de Mistura said.

Lavrov criticized the U.S. and its allies for delaying the formation of a wide anti-terrorism coalition backed by Russia.

“Fighting terrorists is something else and this doesn’t have any national boundaries.” Lavrov said.

“We will discuss the political process, which can’t be resolved militarily.”