Putin says concerned over terrorism spreading from Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a gathering of Eurasian leaders on Monday, Sept 23 that he was concerned over the terrorism spreading from Syria to Russia and neighboring states, RIA Novosti reported.

“Rebel groups [in Syria] did not arise out of thin air and are not going to stay put. The issue of terrorism spilling over from one country to another is real and can directly affect the interests of any of our countries,” Putin said in Sochi at a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of former Soviet states.

He noted the recent mall takeover and mass killing by suspected members of an al-Qaeda-linked Somali militant group in Kenya was an example terrorism spilling over into another country.

“The rebels came from another country and are committing terrible, bloody crimes,” Putin said and expressed condolences over the dozens of lives lost in the mall attack. “I hope the criminals will be punished,” he said.

He added that the CSTO – which also includes Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – was expected to adopt a joint declaration on Syria later in the day.

A senior official in Russia’s Federal Security Service said last week that some 300 or 400 Russians were fighting alongside the rebels in Syria.