Lavrov: Russian Air Force operation in Syria only directed at fight against terrorism

Russian Air Force operation in Syria is only directed at fight against terrorism, the United States has been informed of that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a session of the UN Security Council on conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa on Wednesday.

Russia's top diplomat called unilateral actions in the Middle East and North Africa harmful, adding that collective coordinated approach on the basis of UN Security Council decisions is needed.

"We will not succeed without taking into account lessons from tragic mistakes and undertakings in the region over the last 10-12 years," Lavrov said. "The main lesson is that any unilateral actions are harmful. Collective coordinated approaches based on UN Security Council decisions are needed," he added.

Lavrov reminded that "Russian assessment of the situation was detailed in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the summit of UN General Assembly on September 28." "We are not trying to take the discussion in a fruitless direction of a showdown — who is right and who is wrong," he said.

"We think it is necessary to start from clearly and unequivocally setting priorities. Here, as far as I understand, there is a concrete understanding that the main threat is terrorist aggression embodied in the actions of ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — former name of Islamic State terrorist organization]," Lavrov noted.
   [tass.ru]
  30/9/15
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