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Foreign sponsors supply terrorists in Syria with weapons, says Russian ministry

Senior Russian diplomat blasted efforts to utilize terrorists for political objectives
Russian Foreign Ministry Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS
Russian Foreign Ministry
© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. The operation of Russia’s Aerospace Force in Syria has exposed the delivery of weapons and military hardware to terrorists from their foreign sponsors through fake companies, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in his opening remarks at the second international conference on Countering Illicit Arms Trafficking in the Context of Fighting International Terrorism.

"The incessant flow of weapons worth colossal sums of money is delivered to terrorists from their sponsors," Syromolotov said. "The counter-terrorist operation of Russia’s Aerospace Force in Syria exposed many instances of the delivery of various types of military equipment to terrorists by fake companies via third countries."

Syromolotov added that in the process of combat operations in Syria and Iraq extremists had repeatedly used unmanned aerial vehicles.

"The drones’ architecture is not improvised," Syromolotov stated. "Experts note that the ideas and technologies provided by Western specialists are used for their assembly."

A major hurdle in the war on terror is the use of militants for political purposes by some countries, Oleg Syromolotov said.

"Russia has shed light on that problem [the illegal deliveries of weapons to terrorists — TASS] on numerous occasions at various international venues," he said opening the second international conference on Countering Illicit Arms Trafficking in the Context of Fighting International Terrorism.

"The main obstacle to rallying the world community around the shared goal of dealing a crushing blow to the terrorist core remains the enduring politically-motivated approaches and double standards stemming from them, as well as the desire of individual countries to employ terrorist groups in order to achieve political and geopolitical objectives," Syromolotov emphasized.