Putin: ISIL Financed by 40 Countries, including G20 Member States

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Putin: ISIL Financed by 40 Countries, including G20 Member States

Putin said at the G20 summit that Russia has presented examples of terrorism financing by individual businessmen from 40 countries, including from member states of the G20.

"I provided examples related to our data on the financing of 'Islamic State' units by natural persons in various countries. The financing comes from 40 countries, as we established, including some G20 members," Putin told reporters following the summit.

The fight against terrorism was a key topic at the summit, according to the Russian leader.

"This topic (the war on the terror) was crucial. Especially after the Paris tragedy, we all understand that the means of financing terrorism should be severed," the Russian president said.

Russia has also presented satellite images and aerial photos showing the true scale of the 'Islamic State' oil trade.

"I've demonstrated the pictures from space to our colleagues, which clearly show the true size of the illegal trade of oil and petroleum products market. Car convoys stretching for dozens of kilometers, going beyond the horizon when seen from a height of four-five thousand meters," Putin told reporters after the G20 summit.

The Russian president also said that Syrian opposition is ready to launch an anti-ISIL operation if Russia provides air support.

"A part of the Syrian opposition considers it possible to begin military actions against ISIL with the assistance of the Russian air forces, and we are ready to provide that assistance," the Russian president said.

Cooperation With the US

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the United States has shown a certain willingness to resume cooperation with Russia in several areas.

"It seemed to me that, at least at an expert level, at the level of discussing problems, there was, indeed, a clear interest in resuming work in many areas, including the economy, politics, and the security sphere," Putin told reporters.

Vladimir Putin said that Russia needs support from the US, Saudi Arabia and Iran in the fight against terrorism.

"It's not the time to debate who is more effective in the fight against ISIL, what we need to do is consolidate our efforts," president Putin added.

The Russian president hopes that the work with the G20 colleagues in the fight against terrorism will continue.

"I think that cooperation in fighting terrorism is very important," Vladimir Putin told reporters.

The work to create the list of terrorist organizations in Syria is being carried out on the level of foreign ministers, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

"With regard to Syria, here we should, first of all, decide, and now the foreign ministers are working on this, what groups we consider to be terrorist organizations, and which can be attributed to the armed, but still ‘healthy’ part of the Syrian opposition," Putin told reporters following the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey.