28 October 2016, 07:58 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — There are no alternatives to boosting efforts in the fight against terrorism, otherwise the battle with militants in the Middle East may be lost, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday.
“For us, it is clear that the boost of efforts to suppress terrorists has no alternatives, otherwise we risk to lose this battle not only in Syria, but in the whole Middle East and in the North of Africa,” Lavrov said at the meeting with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Assad fighting numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front. Since the war's beginning it has claimed lives of thousands of people and displaced millions more. The international community has undertaken steps to end the Syrian conflict and to solve the humanitarian crisis in the Middle Eastern country.
