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Fight against Islamic state

Diplomat says Russia and US continue to work on embargo against Islamic State

ROME, May 4. /TASS/. The work on the UN Security Council’s resolution that would impose a trade embargo on the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) is still underway, said Dmitry Feoktistov, Deputy Director of the Department on New Challenges and Threats at Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

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"We are trying to come to terms with the United States because, as experience shows, when we come to terms, other partners welcome the deal," he told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).

The Russian diplomat pointed out that a year and a half ago Moscow had proposed that a comprehensive ban be issued on trading with the IS. "This proposal war first voiced during the Russian-US consultations on countering the financing of terrorism. I must say that unlike Russian-US cooperation in the fight against terrorism in general, which has been suspended, the work in this field never stopped," Feoktistov noted.

US hampers Russia’s initiative

The Russian diplomat also said that in relation to the IS embargo, Washington pointed to two aspects. "The first is that the IS has no permanent territory and no borders, while imposing an embargo would require the strengthening of border control in Syria, Iraq and their neighboring countries," Feoktistov said.

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Putin and Trump stress importance of anti-terrorism cooperation

"The second is the humanitarian consequences, because civilians always suffer from sanctions. However, in such cases, humanitarian exclusions are envisaged so we believe that the US is only trying to brush the Russian initiative aside," the diplomat added.

At the same time, he stressed that Russia was ready to resume full-fledged cooperation in the war on terror with the United States and other countries but they did not seem willing to do the same.

Feoktistov said that the Islamic State’s oil and gas revenues had reduced, particularly as a result of the Russian Aerospace Force’s operations that targeted the terrorists’ oil facilities. "However, they still continue to get oil revenues, besides, they earn from trading agricultural products and even human organs, they also invest in real estate in various countries," he went on to say. "This means that someone still does business with the IS, so an embargo is necessary, as well as strict measures need to be taken against those who would violate it," the Russian diplomat concluded.

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