Scrap blacklists, fight terrorism together - Russian officials to US
Hours after the Boston Marathon bombings, several top Russian politicians have said the US and Russia must join forces in countering terrorism, expressing hope it would revive the ties that came under threat after the Magnitsky List was published.
“It is important for the Russia-US relations that the American side understands that the main threat for the United States comes not from the people on the Magnitsky List, but from terrorists, and the administrations of our countries must make a mutual effort to fight this evil instead of making some lists or counter-lists,” top Russian senator Viktor Ozerov has said, according to RIA Novosti.
The senator added that Russia also faced the objective of raising the security level at mass events similar to the Boston Marathon that was targeted by yet-unidentified bombers on Monday. He said that the parliament must step up the work on the bill on security at sports events that had already passed the first hearing in the State Duma.
The head of the upper house’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Mikhail Margelov, made a similar statement and called for a joint struggle against terrorism.
The senator noted that though the Boston Marathon attack cannot be compared to the September 11 events in New York City in terms of casualties, it is a reminder, for Russia and the United States alike, that terrorism has not yet been defeated and that terrorism is always an international phenomenon.
“The Boston events are another reminder that instead of making blacklists that are only dividing us, we should unite. Our common enemy is obvious and all-penetrative. This is a very sad case when one should not ask for whom the bell tolls,” Margelov told the press.
The Russian official also expressed the opinion that the Boston bombings were organized by a homegrown US terrorist cell which, however, is an inseparable part of the “international network of assassins.”
President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences in connection with the attack that killed three people and wounded scores of others.
“Vladimir Putin resolutely denounces this barbaric crime and expresses his belief that the fight against terrorism requires active cooperation of the international community as a whole,” reads the statement released by the Kremlin press service.
The Russian president also emphasized that his country was ready to provide assistance in the investigation of the Boston bombing.
