Russian Defense Minister Calls for Abandoning "Double Standards" in Fight Against Terrorism

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov urges the world community to give up double standards in the fight against terror.

"Double standards may discredit the very concept of international co-operation in this vital area," Sergei Ivanov told the International Conference on Defense and Security currently held in Munich.

Ivanov pointed out with regret that "we are witnessing our partners' inadequate understanding of the problem of combating international terrorism on the territory of the Russian Federation." Among other things, in Sergei Ivanov's opinion, this lack of understanding is evident from some countries' attitude toward the terrorist organisations operating in the North Caucasus.

"Russia expects its partners to show understanding and co-operation in this issue so that the terrorist organisations committing outrageous crimes on the Russian soil were included in the list of internationally banned terrorist organisations," Sergei Ivanov said.

According to the Russian Defence Minister, in order to trust our partners of the anti-terror coalition, "we all should forego pursuit of immediate political gains." "No religious or ethnical sympathies ought to interfere with our common cause. Moreover, the above attitude prevents establishment of effective co-operation between our defence ministries and national security agencies," Sergei Ivanov emphasised.

He reminded the audience that Germany continued to host the so-called "representation of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria" led by Munich-based Avtorkhanov and Abumuslimov touting themselves as "personal representatives of the Chechen President" as well as the "German-Caucasus Society" and the German "Society for Protection of Oppressed Nations".

The Russian Defence Minister also reminded the delegates that a German TV news channel had last year broadcast an interview with a Subar Magomedova who presented herself as "a political refugee" from Grozny, currently residing in Stuttgart. She confessed to the interviewer that she had personally shot four Russian servicemen in Chechnya.

"I can imagine the vehemence of the response both from the German authorities and public opinion if a killer of a German policemen or a Bundeswehr soldier would have given an interview to a Russian TV channel and remained at large after that", stressed Sergei Ivanov.

According to him, "the Russian authorities are not going to disregard such serious breaches of law".