Russia's Lavrov Calls for BRICS Counterterror Cooperation After Concert Hall Attack
© Sputnik / Sergey Bobylev
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged the nine-nation BRICS group of developing economies on Thursday to enhance cooperation in the fight against terrorism following a deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow last month.
"In preparation for the Kazan summit, we are paying particular attention to closer cooperation in the fight against terrorism … The recent tragedy at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow again emphasized the need to step up joint actions of experts and lawmakers to combat this global evil," he said at a meeting of BRICS parliamentary envoys for foreign affairs.
Russia called the March 22 attack on the concert hall an act of terrorism. The shooting and the fire that gunmen set to the crowded building left 145 people dead and many more injured. President Vladimir Putin vowed that all those responsible would brought to justice.
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov discussed with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland the situation in the Middle East, primarily in the Gaza Strip, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
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Lavrov hosted members of BRICS foreign affairs committees in Moscow to discuss preparations for the BRICS Summit in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan in October. It will be the leaders’ first meeting after the club of five — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — admitted four new members in January (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates).
The foreign minister told lawmakers that BRICS had a counterterrorism joint working group that comprised five subgroups. He said that Russia wanted the member states to enhance cybersecurity and anti-drug cooperation during its rotating presidency of BRICS.
