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Russia accuses West of double standards regarding Daesh

August 29, 2019 at 12:17 pm

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov makes a speech during the 2nd International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism” in Moscow, Russia on 1 July 2019 [Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency]

Russia is concerned about the double standards demonstrated by the West toward the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.

“Undoubtedly, fight against terrorism should be free of double standard.”

In a press conference held after talks with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in Moscow, Lavrov added: “There is alarming information… that some Western colleagues have double standards in relation to this terrorist organisation banned by the UN Security Council and try to use them to accomplish their unilateral geopolitical tasks in Afghanistan.”

Lavrov also commented on US President Donald Trump’s call on Russia and other regional powers, including India, to step up the fight against Daesh in Afghanistan.

He said: “Fight against terrorism and drug trafficking that funds it — all of this is in the focus of our position on Afghanistan. And the goal of all our efforts, which we have undertaken in both the Moscow format and Russia-US-China format — we would like to involve other countries in the work, including India, Pakistan, and Iran  — all of these efforts are aimed at facilitating a political settlement that would be accepted by all ethnic, religious and political groups and that would be based on broad national consensus, while eliminating threat of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking from Afghanistan.”

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