Zeina Nasser
“Russia-Now”
Terrorist threats in Syria are not seen by Russia as any “normal” issue which could be ignored, and Russian officials are constantly announcing that their country is ready to fight off any terrorist action in Syria, Libya and Iraq. So why can’t Russia ignore terrorist threats in these countries?
The latest announcement on this issue came by the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who announced today that “Moscow cannot ignore terrorist threats coming from Syria, Libya, Iraq, and other countries.
“While understanding today’s threats we cannot but talk about them. This is international terrorism that cannot but concern all of us, especially when we are in the regions close to Afghanistan,” Shoigu told Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
He also said that “What is happening today in Syria, Libya, Iraq is of course those threats that we cannot ignore,” adding “Of course, we should pay the most serious attention to them. This is in fact what Russia is doing.”
Shoigu also informed the president of Turkmenistan about the details of a military operation carried out by Russia in Syria.
On Tuesday the 7th of June, the top diplomats of Russia and the United States, Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry, during a phone conversation continued coordination of approaches of the two countries in the fight against the “Islamic State” and “Jabhat al-Nusra” terrorist organizations in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The conversation occurred on the initiative of the American side. Over the past week, that was the third phone conversation of Lavrov and Kerry dedicated to Syrian problems and the fight against terrorism.
Russia cannot ignore terrorist threats in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, for the following reasons:
- Syria includes the last Russian military bases, so Russia will do everything it can to sustain its security
- There is an old Russian quote saying that “If you wanted to reach the Mediterranean, you have to obtain the keys of Damascus”, meaning that the depth of the Russian interests in the Mediterranean goes back to hundreds of years ago, and the Russian achievements in the Mediterranean prove that.
- Why are terrorist attacks or threats in Libya a threat to Russia for example? … Libya is one of the most important countries for oil fields, and one of Russia’s main concerns is the “war on oil” of course.
- The Russian-Libyan relations regarding military equipment go back to many years, when Qaddafi used to buy Russian military equipment worth billions of dollars.
- After discovering very important gas fields in Syria, Russia sent a naval fleet to the Syrian shores.
Most important oil fields in Libya:
Bouri Field El Sharara oil field
Elephant Field Gialo High
List of oil fields in Libya claimed by ISIL
Raguba field Sarir field
Waha field Zelten oil field
- Iraq, as well, is one of the most important countries for oil fields, so Russia “will not leave it alone”.
Here is a list of the most important oil fields in Iraq:
Ahdab Oil Field Akkas Gas Field
Badra Oil Field Bai Hassan Oil Field
Eastern Fields East Baghdad Oil Field
Garraf Oil Field Halfaya Oil Field
Kirkuk Oil Field Majnoon Oil Field
Mansuriyah Gas Field Maysan Oil Fields
Middle Furat Oil Fields Nahr Bin Umar Oil Field
Najmah Oil Field Nasiriyah Oil Field
Qayara Oil Field Rumaila Oil Field
Siba Gas Field West Qurna 1 Oil Field
West Qurna 2 Oil Field Zubair Oil Field
