Moscow condemned the massacre of civilians in the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, urging the international community to denounce double standards in its approach to fighting terrorists, and unite against IS aggression, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We strongly condemn the atrocities committed by armed extremists in Palmyra,” the statement said. “Once again, we urge international and regional parties to abandon the vicious practice of using double standard approaches to fighting against terrorism, and launch efficient cooperation with the governments of Middle East countries, which are directly repelling the IS offensive,” the ministry said, RT reported.
Moscow believes that US-led airstrike campaign against IS positions in Iraq and Syria have not done enough to impede the militants’ advance in the two countries.
“Despite efforts taken by the so-called anti-terrorist coalition, IS is acting ever more actively and stops at nothing to reach its goal.”
In addition, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Britain’s David Cameron agreed on Monday to restart talks on finding a solution to the crisis in Syria, Downing Street said.
The Russian president phoned Cameron to congratulate him on his reelection as prime minister and the two agreed that Syria talks should resume, a spokeswoman from Cameron’s office said.
Past peace negotiations have failed to resolve a crisis in which IS has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in a four-year civil war that has killed 220,000.
