Moscow insists U.S. strikes on terrorist positions in Syria and Iraq are unlawful
MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax) - The approach to fighting terrorism should be comprehensive instead of being limited to narrow coalitions, Moscow has declared.
"The air strikes against positions of militants from the Islamic State (ISIS) continue in Syria and Iraq," a commentary on the Russian Foreign Ministry website says.
"Washington claims that the strikes are delivered by an international coalition targeted at fighting the said terrorist structure. Clearly active resistance to terrorists deserves due evaluation in principle. However, the concrete context of the current developments still arouses serious questions. First of all, the United States and the West as a whole for some reason preferred not to notice the terrorist nature of ISIS when its militants fought only government troops in Syria," the commentary says.
"The lawfulness of the current strikes also arouses doubts because such steps can be taken only with the authorization of the UN and with the definite consent of the official authorities of the country where they are delivered, in this case the government in Damascus," the commentary says.
"We are urging all responsible members of the international community to take part in working out a common strategy of countering terrorism and carrying it out into life. It is specifically such a comprehensive approach, not a narrow coalition of fighting ISIS alone that can produce the necessary result and help rid humanity from this 'plague of the 21st century'," the ministry said.
