Lavrov Regrets US Substitutes Anti-Terror Fight With Geopolitical Interests

© Sputnik / Alexei Druzhinin / Go to the mediabankRussia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 25, 2017.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 25, 2017. - Sputnik International
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Russia regrets that the United States substitutes the joint challenge of countering terrorism with an attempt to carry through its geopolitical maneuvers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The US Senate approved on Wednesday a measure that would expand sanctions against Russia and limit the US president's ability to lift the restrictive measures.

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Peskov reaffirmed Moscow's belief that sanctions "are capable of causing additional harm not only to us but also to those who support these sanctions and those who join them."

"If this is so, it is regretful that the task of creating a united front for an uncompromising fight against terrorism without double standards, should these conclusions be correct, will be again subsisted by an attempt to carry out geopolitical maneuvers," Lavrov told a press conference.

Lavrov added that the Islamic world must be united along with all other countries in combating the common threat of terrorism.

"And we will do everything not to address key issues, which require to be an unconditional priority and put all superficial aside, from the point of religious preferences and prejudices," Lavrov stressed.

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According to Lavrov, the Western coalition in Syria was fighting the Daesh terrorist group but not Jabhat al-Nusra and groupings linked to it.

Syria's civil war began in 2011 and has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives as fighting continues between the government forces, various opposition and militants groups, in particular, Daesh.

Earlier in the day, the Russian government has approved the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism, and has presented the document to Russian President Vladimir Putin for ratification.

Previously Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia does not consider the US as an enemy and is ready for constructive cooperation with Washington.

Putin said Moscow and Washington should join efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including the North Korean nuclear and missile problem.

He once again denied any Russian meddling in the US presidential election, adding that allegations to this effect result from "exacerbating political infighting" in the United States, and that there is nothing Russia can do about this.

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