MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Russia is analyzing the importance of the Islamic military coalition established by Saudi Arabia and its place in the fight against terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"We are examining the place of this initiative in the fight against terrorism," Lavrov said at a press conference after talks with his Bahraini counterpart.
According to the minister, Saudi Arabia’s initiative on uniting efforts of Islamic countries in the fight against terrorism may become the starting point for organizing an interfaith conference under UN auspices.
"Saudi Arabia’s initiative may become the starting point for the initiative to organize a conference under UN auspices which would focus on the role of all world religions in the fight against terrorism," Lavrov said. "We will be ready for this discussion with our friends from the Gulf Cooperation Council and our friends who are interested in winning over this evil," he added.
Russia, Bahrain see eye to eye on combating terrorism, Syrian settlement
The Russian minister noted that Russia and Bahrain have converging stances on the fight against terrorism and the settlement in Syria and Yemen.
"The friendly conversation that took place today made it possible to reaffirm the convergence of opinion on most international issues," the minister said. "This concerns both the formation of the broadest possible united front for the fight against terrorism and efforts to resolve the crises in Syria and Yemen based on organizing the cross-national dialogue under UN auspices. This also applies to our common interest in the normalization of the situation in other countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan. And, of course, this concerns our consistent stance on the need to overcome the deadlock in such long-term conflict as the Palestinian-Israeli problem."
"We agreed to push ahead with joint efforts to seek ways to resolve these problems through bilateral contacts at the highest and high levels, within the framework of regional organizations and, of course, within the framework of the United Nations, where our delegations cooperate fruitfully," Lavrov said.