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Russian security chief denounces use of war on terror as guise for intervention

The current situation in the Middle East and its consequences for other global regions require international cooperation in the sphere of security

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev has stated in his speech at the seventh Moscow International Security Conference that intervention by third countries in the policy of sovereign states under the guise of the war on terror is inadmissible.

"It is important to organize international cooperation in order to terminate the activity of foreign terrorists, including those returning from flashpoints and the effective sharing of information on these terrorists, their movements and plans," he said. "Countries outside the region should not be allowed to intervene in sovereign states’ domestic affairs under the pretext of the war on terror."

According to Patrushev, the current situation in the Middle East and its consequences for other global regions require international cooperation in the sphere of security. He noted that, despite a considerable weakening of international terror groups in Iraq and Syria, ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda and other terror organizations are changing tactics and expanding their activity in new areas.

"In particular, some militants from Syria and Iraq are going to Europe to recruit new militants and plot terror attacks. Others are deployed to Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Sahara-Sahel region and the Pacific Rim," the Security Council secretary stated, adding that terrorists continue to focus on countries with weakened state institutions, vast ungoverned territories, sharp religious and ethnic conflicts, a high level of poverty and unemployment.

Illegitimate attempts

Patrushev denounced attempts by some states to act illegitimately under far-fetched pretexts, skirting the UN and disregarding its central coordinating role in global relations. He noted that such actions "have become systematic in recent years." "We can see some countries’ claims to act as global prosecutors and judges all in one, allowing for the consolidation of peace through force if it is necessary for their vested interests," he stated. "Some states counter the processes of establishing justice and equality of rights in world affairs and undermine the system of providing international and regional security, as well as distort and violate the norms of international communication," Patrushev noted. "Allegations, intervention in sovereign states’ affairs and the use of military force or unilateral sanctions against them have become an established practice."

The Security Council secretary stressed that the specified stance does not respond to the long-term interests of global development and considerably destabilizes the international situation, drawing the global community away from solving current problems and complicating opposition to modern challenges and threats, which can be effectively countered only based on collective approaches and common efforts of all interested parties using the established norms of international law, chiefly the provisions of the UN Charter. "International problems cannot be solved without constructive interaction and coordination," he concluded.