PARIS (Sputnik) – Ilya Rogachev, the head of the Department for New Challenges and Threats (DNCT) at the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper published on Friday that Moscow did not support French airstrikes targeting oil facilities in Syria controlled by Islamic State militants as they are not approved by the legitimate Syrian government and cannot be justified by self-defense claims.
"I remind that, in the resolution 2170 on fighting the financing of terrorism… [the oil facilities] bring profits, used to finance recruitment and to strengthen the operating capacity of terrorists in order to prepare and carry out terrorist attacks," Romain Nadal told journalists.
Resolution 2170, adopted last August, notes with concern that the oil infrastructure brings profit to the extremist group, and condemns any trade with these organizations.
France is one of the countries launching airstrikes against the ISIL positions in Syria and Iraq with the US-led international coalition.
France has launched expanded airstrikes in Syria in recent days, after Islamic State claimed responsibility for the November 13 Paris attacks which killed 129 and injured over 350.
