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Foreign minister says terror act downing A321 is equivalent to attack against Russia

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the right to self-defense will be exercised through all available means - political, military, security services, intelligence
The site of A321 passenger jet crash in Egypt Maxim Grigoryev/TASS
The site of A321 passenger jet crash in Egypt
© Maxim Grigoryev/TASS

MOSCOW, November 18./TASS/. The terrorist act on board the Russian airliner is equivalent to an attack against the state, the right to self-defense will be exercised through all available means, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"As to our action - as the president has emphasized it will be based on Article 51 of UN Charter. The article envisages the right of individual or collective self-defense for any state in case of an attack against it," Lavrov said.

"The act of terror over Sinai was an attack against Russian nationals, which is equivalent to an attack against the state. The right to self-defense will be exercised through all available means - political, military, security services, intelligence and so on," he added.

Moscow expects common action targeting IS financing

 Lavrov stressed that Moscow expects common action of the world community to crack down on financing of terrorist groups.

"As for a commentary of President Vladimir Putin on sources of financing to terrorist organizations made at a news conference in Antalya, I think everything was said," he continued.

"Besides, we presented satellite pictures showing endless flows of oil and petroleum products from the territories seized by Islamic State abroad, where this all is sold," Lavrov said.

"Islamic State is financing its criminal activity to a great extent through these sales," he said. "These issues are a source of most serious concerns for all our partners. I think we will be able to jointly arrange such work that will not depend on some populist geopolitical considerations, and will let all of us concentrate on the main task - prevent IS moves, undermine its financial and material base and in the long run destroy this terrorist organization," he said.

President Putin said on Monday that he had told his G20 colleagues what he knew about channels of financial support for terrorists.

"I discussed it with my colleagues. I hope that we will continue this work which is extremely important for fighting terrorism," Putin told a briefing on results of the G20 summit.

Putin stressed it was necessary to prevent the receipt of revenues from illegal sale of oil and petrochemical products by terrorists.

"I also showed our colleagues the space images and aerial photos which clearly show the scale and extent of this illegal trade in oil and petrochemical products. Filling trucks are stretching to dozens of kilometers beyond the horizon from an altitude of 4,000-5,000 metres. They look like oil transportation systems," Putin stressed.