We see that the situation in the world is far from being stable. International terrorism, as we all know, poses a global threat.

By creating a stronghold in Syria and a number of other Middle East countries, the terrorists have been making plans to expand their activities and to destabilise entire regions; they have been hiring mercenaries from many countries, including, unfortunately, Russia and the CIS.

To prevent this threat, to take preventive measures, Russia, as you may know, has launched a combat operation in Syria. I would like to stress that the military assistance we are providing to the Syrian Arab Republic at the request of the country’s leadership fully meets Russia’s Military Doctrine and the norms of international law.