Russia, US Share Interest Of Fighting Terrorism - Lavrov

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2019) Moscow and Washington share the interest of fighting terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview, released on Thursday.

"Of course, we share the interest of fighting terrorism. It is absolutely obvious. Our interests in this area are the same only if terrorists are not used for political purposes, which has previously been the case," Lavrov said in the interview with RBC.

Lavrov continued by explaining that such US experiments led to the creation of al Qaeda terror group (banned in Russia) in Afghanistan and the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) in Iraq.

"At present, Jabhat Nusra [terror group banned in Russia], a form of al Qaeda, has emerged in Syria and it continues to adapt. So this dialogue is necessary," Lavrov emphasized.

Both Russia and the United States have deployed forces to Syria. Notably, the US troops are stationed on the middle Eastern country's territory without the authorization of its leadership, while the Russian forces support the Syrian military's anti-terrorism efforts at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.