Lavrov: UN Should Take Measures Against Oil Trade by Terrorists

Russian foreign minister said that a report with proposals of practical measures to prevent illegal oil trade by terrorists should be prepared by the United Nations.

SOCHI, November 26 (Sputnik) – Russia is waiting for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s proposals on measures needed to stop oil trade by terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

“We will wait for a report by the UN secretary general containing facts and proposals of practical measures that can be taken to prevent this trade,” Lavrov said.

On November 21, the diplomat said that Moscow would urge the United Nations Security Council to impose a formal ban on the purchase of oil from territories controlled by terrorists that include those seized by Islamic State (IS) militants.

Russia's envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin stated on November 19 that terrorist organizations' daily income from oil sales is about $3 million dollars. According to Churkin, the IS terrorist group controls 14 oil fields and exports up to 50-60 million barrels per day in Iraq and exploit up to 10 fields in Syria.

The IS, a Sunni extremist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories that had fallen under its control.