Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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New York, SANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the United States is adopting double standards in combating terrorism and that it hasn’t listened to Russia, calling on the U.S. to fight terrorists consistently everywhere rather than classify them as good or bad terrorists.
In an interview given to the Russian Channel 5 prior to his meeting with U.S. State Secretary John Kerry on Wednesday, Lavrov said that combating terrorism requires fighting terrorists everywhere, not classifying them as good because they’re trying to topple a duly elected and legitimate leader that the sides making these classifications happen to dislike personally.
“According to this logic, the only bad terrorists are the ones who only kill U.S. citizens,” he said, wondering how the Americans failed to see the terrorist threats before.
He noted that the U.S. didn’t listen to Russia when it called for uniting efforts and supporting the Syrian government and the moderate national opposition to fight terrorism.
Lavrov also pointed out that Russia has been supplying weapons to Iraq, Syria, and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa which allows them to combat terrorism effectively.
He said that Russia welcomes any effort to help the Iraqi government combat terrorism, but if any side wants to combat terrorism in another country’s territories, particularly in Syria, they must receive permission from the country’s government, noting that Syria has repeatedly voiced readiness to cooperate with any international effort to help eliminate terrorism.
Moscow criticizes the US airstrikes against ISIS in Syria
Moscow expressed doubts of the legitimacy of the US airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham terrorist organization, saying the airstrikes shouldn’t be carried out without an authorization from the UN and an approval from the state government on which the airstrikes are launched.
Russia Today Website quoted a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that Moscow criticizes the raids of the US warplanes on the terrorists’ sites in Syria and Iraq, which Washington claims that they are done at the hands of “an international anti-terrorism coalition.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry added that combating terrorism deserves a positive evaluation, but the political context of the events still stir serious inquires, affirming that the US and its allies were turning a blind eye when the terrorist organizations targeted the Syrian government forces.
Hazem Sabbagh/ Mazen
