Terrorism is an urgent danger for many countries. Terrorists may attack Russia and Islamic states. This statement was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who underlined that terrorism was a serious threat to the Russian Federation before the beginning of the operation in Syria.
"Terrorism is an urgent danger for many countries in the region. One of the leaders thete told me once that Islamic states were the first victims of terrorism, he was willing to fight this danger," the President said.
He underlined that he doesn’t understand the reason why many countries in Europe, as well as the United States, consider that they are taking measures against terrorism. ‘‘We don’t see any real results. Moreover, now the program for training the so-called Free Syrian Army has been cancelled. Firstly, they planned to train 12,000 people. Then they decided to train 6,000 people and after that 60 people. In the end it was found out that only 4 or 5 people are fighting ISIS.They spent $500 million. It would be better to use the money in order to fight international terrorism,’’ Putin said.
However, he drew attention to the fact that the terrorist threat to the Russian Federation would only strengthen if the operation in Syria hadn’t been started. "We got used to it. Unfortunately, we have not stopped it yet. But when I took a decision against international terrorist gangs after their attack in Dagestan many people also said that we shouldn’t have done that," Russian president said.
According to him, if you have a fear that they will do something, it will happen. "We need to act earlier. Certainly, this danger exists, but it had already been in Syria."
He also informed that Russia doesn’t intend to get involved in some inter-religious conflicts in Syria. "We don’t see any difference between Shiites and Sunnis. A significant number of our population adhere to Islam. They are also citizens of Russia, like Christians and Jews. We don’t intend to get involved in any religious conflicts in Syria,’’ the Russian President said, adding that the main goal of Russia is to support the legitimate government and create conditions for a political settlement.
According to Vladimir Putin, Russian servicemen won’t carry out a ground operation in Syria against militants of the terrorist group Islamic State. "This is ruled out. Whatever happens, we are not going to do it and our Syrian friends know about it,’’ RIA Novosti cites him. "The actions of the Russian aircraft in the country are not spontaneous, and they occur in order to implement our earlier plans," President Putin underlined.
