MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Broad outlines regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to build a coalition to fight Islamic State militants have already been laid down and discussions will continue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir.
"We agree on the need to consolidate efforts in the fight against the common threat posed by Islamic State and other terrorist groups. This is a real threat both for Russia and Saudi Arabia as well as other countries in the region and beyond," Lavrov said.
Russia’s top diplomat recalled that President Vladimir Putin, who met Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, in St. Petersburg in June, urged to think of establishing an international legal framework to create a coalition to combat terrorism in the region.
"We have discussed activities in this area and agreed on practical steps," Lavrov said. "I am confident that we will continue discussing the initiative. There are some plans of concrete moves towards this goal, and the talks will continue," Lavrov said.
"We have discussed the issue of fighting terrorism and extremism that poses a threat to the whole international community, including Russia and Saudi Arabia," al-Jubeir said, adding that the talks also focused on "the possibilities for cooperation between security forces to counter this threat".