Putin: 40 Countries Are Financing Islamic State Terrorists
While calling for greater global cooperation on terrorism Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said financing for the Islamic State is coming from 40 nations, including some G20 states.
I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them," Putin asserted, answering questions posed to him by the press at the summit in Antalya, Turkey.
According to Russia's government-funded media outlet Russia Today, Putin provided satellite imagery to other heads of state at the G20 leaders summit, disclosing the black market sale of oil by the Islamic State: The motorcade of refueling vehicles stretched for dozens of kilometers, so that from a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters they stretch beyond the horizon,Putin added about the oil convoy that helps to fund ISIS. The New York Times reported that on Monday American warplanes based in Turkey struck an IS oil convoy in Eastern Syria. The story claims that the attack on the oil convoy was planned before Friday's terror attacks in Paris. Putin has disagreed with Obama and other Western leaders on a strategy to defeat IS in Syria. The U.S. and Russia have often sparred over what constitutes legitimate targets, as Russia has been accused by some nations of merely working to prop up Syria's Assad regime. "We need to organize work specifically concentrated on the prevention of terrorist attacks and tackling terrorism on a global scale. We offered to cooperate [with the U.S.] in anti-IS efforts," Putin added. "Unfortunately, our American partners refused. They just sent a written note and it says: 'We reject your offer.'" He continued, "But life is always evolving and at a very fast pace, often teaching us lessons. And I think that now the realization that an effective fight [against terror] can only be staged together is coming to everybody." The Russian president emphasized now was the time for a "united international effort" and not the time to figure out which country "is more and which is less effective" against fighting IS. Putin specifically asked for more support from the Obama administration, EU nations, and Iran and Saudi Arabia in combating IS. Obama and Putin met for over 30 minutes at the G20 to discuss a military strategy against the terror group. According to the Times, Obama administration officials put a more positive spin on the meeting between the two world leaders, while Russian officials expressed that the two leaders are still at odds about how to handle the civil war in Syria. "On tactics, the two sides are still diverging," said Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser. French President Francois Hollande also called on the U.S. and Russia to unite to defeat IS during a special address to parliament on Monday. Hollande declared that the divisions in the international community have been "divided and incoherent" for too long. "We must combine our forces to achieve a result that is already too late in coming," Hollande said. Putin noted Monday that more intelligence sharing in the battle against IS must be a priority going forward, and added that Russia has asked for further details about specific targets.
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