Putin urges to put geopolitical ambitions aside and jointly fight terrorism

DUSHANBE, September 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called on the international community to put aside geopolitical ambitions and double standards and to join forces to combat the threat of terrorism. "We should put geopolitical ambitions aside and abandon the so-called double standards and the policy of using either directly or indirectly certain terrorist groups to achieve own opportunist goals, including the change of governments and regimes undesirable to someone," Putin said at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe. Putin described the current situation in Syria, Iraq and the whole Middle East region as "very serious", noting that Islamic State militants controlled large swathes of territory there and were advancing in other areas. "Terrorists publicly claim that they set their sights on Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. They are planning to expand their activities to Europe, Russia, Central and Southeast Asia," he said. The president expressed concern about the fact that Islamic State continued to ideologically indoctrinate and train fighters from many countries of the world, "including, unfortunately, European countries and Russia, and many other former Soviet republics." "Elementary common sense and responsibility for global and regional security require concerted efforts of the international community against this threat," Putin added. Read more