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Lavrov: BRICS, SCO See Eye-to-Eye on Combating Terrorist Groups

Statement comes after Russian president issues calls to unify forces against ISIS and other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq, hinting at an greater Iranian role in the process
Lavrov: BRICS, SCO See Eye-to-Eye on Combating Terrorist Groups

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed the need to unit efforts against ISIS, the Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations.

Addressing a press conference held in the Russian city of Ufa on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on Thursday, Lavrov called on the financers of terrorism to realize its danger, which is extending across all borders.

“It is not possible that terrorists be used as temporary allies in order to isolate a particular political regime, and that is what we have seen in Syria,” said Lavrov.

Lavrov warned of the threat posed by ISIS towards most countries of the world, including the US, Russia and the European Union, noting that Moscow is implementing measures to control attempts by Russian nationals to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The foreign minister noted that participants of the BRICS summit and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which are being held simultaneously in Ufa, share a common stance towards ISIS and other terrorist organizations, stating their existence must be combated decisively.

This common stance, Lavrov noted, would be shaped in the documents and joint declarations issued by the two BRICS and SCO summits.

Lavrov also referred to a Russian initiative to effectively combat terrorism, hinted at by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his meeting with Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Moscow recently.

According to Lavrov, Putin stressed the need to unify forces against the ISIS risk and arrange means to combat terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq, hinting at the possible role Iran could play, given its shared interest in preventing the spread of ISIS.

The SCO, an economic and military organization, was founded in Shanghai in 2001 by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

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