All news

Russia ready for cybersecurity dialogue with US — diplomat

A Russian diplomat calls to establish a common database on foreign terrorist fighters

ROME, May 10. /TASS/. Russia continues to be ready for dialogue on cybersecurity with the US despite the fact that the previous round of consultations in Geneva did not take place because of the American side, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said on Thursday.

"Of course, we are ready," he said answering a question from a TASS correspondent. "Our president has always said that our task is to work with everyone."

He noted though that the US partners do not always show such willingness.

A Russian-US meeting on cybersecurity was scheduled to be held in Geneva in late February. However, the American delegation refused to take part in it at the very last moment. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the consultations were derailed by Washington.

Common database

Russia considers the establishment of a common database on foreign terrorist fighters as an effective mechanism in the war on terror, he said.

"The establishment of a common database that would contain information about foreign terrorist fighters and additional measures for sharing information on their movements could become an effective mechanism in countering this phenomenon," said Syromolotov, who is in charge of international cooperation in the war on terror.

"In this context we pay attention to the capabilities of the international database on countering terrorism that was created under the auspices of the heads of intelligence services and security and law enforcement bodies and contains information about foreign terrorist fighters," he added.

The 16th meeting of the heads of intelligence services, security bodies and law enforcement bodies - partners of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was held in October 2017 in Krasnodar. It gathered 117 delegations from 76 countries and six international coalitions, including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the European Union.