Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Moscow, SANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Syria and Iran should be engaged in combating the risks of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), asserting that it is a mistake not to cooperate with them in the issue of combating terrorism.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV in New York on Sunday, Lavrov added “We have to engage Syria in fighting terrorism”, describing as “not logical at all” the refusal of President Barrack Obama’s administration to cooperate with Syria in this regard.
The Russian Foreign Minister also emphasized the need to cooperate with Iran in fighting ISIS.
“Iran of course should be part of the efforts of combating ISIS as Iran is a strong opponent of this organization and it is a mistake to ignore Iran in this fight,” Lavrov said.
He pointed out that launching any military ground operation against the terrorists in the Syrian territories without consultation with Damascus or having authorization from the UN Security Council would be an “act of aggression”.
Earlier, Lavrov stressed in a speech at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly that countering terrorism in Syria should be done in cooperation with the Syrian government which expressed its readiness to do that based on the UN charter.
” Russia since the beginning of the crisis in Syria called for unifying efforts for fighting terrorism,” The Russian Foreign Minister said.
He added that Russia has been efficiently contributing to that through supplying weapons to Iraq, Syria and other countries in the region for combating the risks of terrorism as it will continue its efforts in this regard.”
Bogdanov : Cooperation with Syrian and Iraqi governments needed for fighting ISIS
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov stressed the need for working together with all partners, primarily, with governments of Syria and Iraq for confronting the terrorist organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
ISIS and terrorism in the Middle East in general are our common threats; these are the threats to the whole international community…We should make consolidated efforts together with all our partners, and primarily, of course, with the states of this region governments of Iraq and Syria,” Russian News Agency Novosti quoted Bogdanov as saying in an interview with “Kommersant” Russian Newspaper on Monday .
He pointed out that ISIS poses a threat to the Russians as well, given the fact that there are Russian citizens among the ISIS members.
The Russian Diplomat added “Citizens of many countries are fighting there, from 70 or 80 states… Everybody is concerned with the fact that these people go there and then come back… They are trained there and acquire certain skills, therefore they pose a considerable threat to the national security of their countries of origin.
At the same time, they have passports, the ones of Western countries in particular, which provides them with an opportunity to move freely around the world without visas and additional checking. It is extremely dangerous,” Bogdanov said.
H. Zain/ R. Milhem / Ghossoun
