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Risks of escalation in Iraq persist, Putin says

He noted that the global and regional security situation remained difficult

© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn the attention of the participants in the BRICS summit to the persisting risks of an aggravation of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, he focused on the situation in Iraq in his speech at the summit on Tuesday.

"The risks of an aggravation of the situation in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf region persist," Putin said.

He noted that the global and regional security situation remained difficult. "Dangerous destabilization is observed in the Middle East and North Africa, armed standoff continues in Libya and Yemen. A lot is yet to be done for a political settlement in Syria," the Russian leader stressed.

Putin noted that international terrorism and drug trafficking continued to pose a serious threat. He added that the scale of cybercrime had increased substantially.

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