Islamic State must be fought jointly, without "double standards" - Lavrov

UFA, July 9. /TASS/. The Islamic State group (IS) is an absolute evil that must be fought together and without any "double standards," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Ufa on Thursday. "Russia has its own stance on the IS issue. It consists of a notion that this is an absolute evil, just like all other terrorist groups in the world," Lavrov said. He noted that this evil "had to be fought resolutely" and without ‘double standards,’ without using the problem for timeserving interests." He recalled that very often some people thought that "terrorists in a single country could become their allies and help topple the undesired regimes, the way it was, for example, in Syria." "It was then that our initiatives to condemn the rampant terror in Syria were blocked," he added. "In the fight against terrorism it is necessary to avoid ‘double standards,’ at least because of the instinct of self-preservation." "We are already taking steps to monitor the movement of militants from among Russian citizens who are fighting alongside IS," Lavrov added. Read more