Russia, Indonesia to Collaborate in War on ISIS Terrorists

The agreement was reached Wednesday in Jakarta between visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.
 
"We confirmed that our countries have similar or close positions on the majority of global and regional issues," Lavrov said. "Like Indonesia, we believe that any conflicts and crises should be resolved in accordance with international law and the United Nations’ principles, through political dialogue, negotiations and the search for compromises, while foreign interference is unacceptable," the Russian foreign minister pointed out.
 
"In this regard, we are concerned over the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, despite certain progress in the Syrian settlement process and the fight against terrorism," Lavrov went on to say. "The threat that the ISIS is, has not vanished. Its members have been spreading all over the world, including the areas close to the Russian and Indonesian borders," Lavrov said.
 
"We have agreed that our special services will pay particular attention to increasing coordination in our joint efforts to fight this scourge," he stressed. "We will boost cooperation in this sphere both on bilateral level and on the Russia-ASEAN platform," he added.
 
Lavrov said that at the meeting, the parties had discussed "military and technical issues of mutual interest." "We are interested in supporting Indonesia’s ability to counter any threats, today, we have talked a lot about the threat of terrorism, which we all have been facing," the Russian foreign minister added.
 
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the two countries had strong ties on political and defense issues, and Indonesia wanted to deepen trade ties.
 
Hundreds of extremists from Indonesia have flocked Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIS, and the country has seen an increased in terrorist attacks over the past year.