SOCHI, October 16. /TASS/. Western states do not want to involve Russia and China in the process of establishing counterterrorism guidelines for IT companies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during an international session of heads of special services, security bodies and law enforcement in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
"The objectives on forming integrated, systemic approaches to combat the use of Internet in pursuit of terrorist and extremist agendas are becoming more relevant. Unfortunately, so far, we encounter obstacles on this path," he said. "Namely, our Western partners prefer to establish cooperation in this sphere within their narrow circle. They are unwilling to invovle such states as Russia and China in these efforts aimed at forming common rules and guidelines for major global IT companies."
The Russian foreign minister noted that some positive steps on fighting cyberterrorism were made after a joint statement on this issue had been signed in July during the G20 summit in Osaka. "This statement establishes the key priorities of international cooperation, including the leading role of states in the fight against terrorism and the condemnation of terrorism in all its forms with no exception," he continued. "This means abandoning double standards. This is how we see this obligation undertaken by the G20 leaders."
The minister pointed out Russia’s readiness to cooperate in the sphere of counterterrorism on an equal basis with all world states, calling on the West to abandon the double standards in this area. "Attempts to impose the notion that the terrorist threat is allegedly caused by the policy of the so-called authoritarian regimes under the guise of combating violent extremism are extremely dangerous," he said. "If we analyze the facts, the rise of the main international terrorist organizations — Al-Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra, the IS [all the three terrorist organizations are outlawed in Russia — TASS] is a direct result of military ventures of NATO in the Middle East."
"We would like to point out the real reasons of the rapid surge of terrorism in the region, not to push some rhetoric, but with one goal only: let us learn from the tragic experience of the past years and establish real partner cooperation within the initiative proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin within the framework of the UN General Assembly on forming a universal counterterrorism front," Lavrov noted.