Lavrov: Combating Terrorism, Extremism Needs Coordination among Concerned Countries

MOSCOW- There is an urgent need to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts among concerned countries, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stressed.

In a joint press conference with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo in Moscow on Tuesday, Lavrov said that in the process of fighting terrorism Russia insists on respecting the international law and people’s rights to self determination away from foreign interference.

He added that fighting terrorism should be based on the international laws, noting that the Security Council must not ignore this fact.

On the Ukrainian issue, Lavrov said it is necessary to implement all points in the package of measures on fulfilling the Minsk agreements, pointing out that Spain agrees that the crisis in eastern Ukraine cannot be resolved by military force, Itar Tass reported.

“We discussed the situation in Ukraine,” Lavrov said. “At this stage, we have a common vision of this task. The task is to implement all points, without exception, of the package of measures on peaceful settlement agreed on February 12 in Minsk,” the minister stressed.

“This envisages solving acutest humanitarian problems, lifting the economic blockade from territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, holding municipal elections, ensuring the special status of these territories and carrying out the constitutional reform,” Lavrov said.

“We have a common position with Spain — the Ukrainian crisis cannot be settled by military force,” the minister added. “Political dialogue is an acceptable solution,” he said.

Hamda Mustafa