Russia Circulates New Draft UNSC Resolution on Combatting Terrorism

At the UN Security Council meeting September 30th, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov began circulating a new draft resolution, derived from its previous UNSC resolutions on combatting terrorism—which the United States had rejected.

Lavrov emphasized that the Syria crisis can be solved through coordinated actions against ISIL, by supporting the work of Ban Ki-moon’s special UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, and by efforts involving other nations, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Jordan, Qatar, China, and the United States. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the Security Council that the U.S.-led coalition had failed to contain ISIL, and that its actions in Syria violated international law, since it encroaches on Syrian territory without the government’s authorization, Newsday reported yesterday.

During the special session, Lavrov warned that the Islamic State possesses components for weapons of mass destruction, and called for ISIS to be included as a separate subject in anti- terrorist sanctions lists of the UN.

he said, according to RT. The situation in the region has worsened in the past year, Lavrov underscored, adding that “The accumulation of crisis potential came close to the point where we can talk about the destruction of the political map of the region.”

The Russian leader told the special session,

According to a copy of the draft obtained by Associated Press, it calls for states to “coordinate their activities with the consent of the states in the territories on which such activities are conducted.”  Referencing the refugee flows into Europe, Lavrov said the crisis won’t be solved without creating “a firm barrier to the aspirations of Islamic State to place the region under medieval dictate.  It is not refugees that must be stopped, but terrorists and wars and conflicts begetting them.”