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Russia sees IS as main enemy: FM

Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Russia sees the Islamic State (IS) as its main external enemy, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

"I believe that the IS is the main enemy today, for only one simple reason: hundreds of Russian citizens, Europeans, Americans and citizens from the Commonwealth of Independent States are fighting within the ranks of the IS," Lavrov said.

In a joint interview with three local radio stations, Lavrov went on warning that those trained militants are coming back to their motherland and would occasionally make bad things happen at home "for their own entertainment."

On the the crisis in Yemen, Lavrov urged relevant parties to use their influence and find a political solution.

It is the militants of the IS and al-Qaida that benefited the most from the air raid of Saudi-led coalition forces against the Shiite Houthi group and forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said Lavrov.

On geopolitics, Lavrov said that Russia sees no economic or military threats coming from China or any other Asian countries, stressing that Russia-China cooperation is of strategic nature and contributes to international stability.

However, the only threat from the East is the U.S. missile defense system in Northeast Asia, Lavrov said.

He accused the United States of breaching the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

Vowing that Russia would not deploy overseas nuclear weapons to safeguard national security, Lavrov reiterated that Russia is willing to cooperate with the United States on such issues as security mechanisms.

Meanwhile, Lavrov called on European countries to rethink the EU-Russia relationship. He claimed that Washington is using the Ukraine crisis to "hamper the deepening of our partnership with the EU."

Lavrov expressed the hope that Ukraine could stay neutral especially "in military-political terms" and remain united with the commitment of decentralization being honored.

He said Moscow has pushed for implementation of Minsk accords in order to keep Ukraine undivided and prevent the prevalence of nationalistic ideology.

Any other development would mean Ukraine's breakup and becoming partly anti-Russia, Lavrov concluded. Endi