Over the weekend at the G-20 summit, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that he wants stronger ties to the Western nations in light of their interest in defeating a common enemy.
Russian president Vladimir Putin staunchly affirmed over the weekend that he believes it is time for Russia to stop isolating from the West and work more closely with Western nations to combat terrorism and the threat of the Islamic State. Putin made his statements at the recent Group of 20 summit in Turkey over the weekend.
The Russian leader has said that he has made overtures before but was rebuffed, reports The Wall Street Journal. Since he invaded The Ukraine and annexed Crimea, Putin’s standing with Western leaders is at an all time low. He has, however, come down forcefully on the side of President Assad in Syria in his efforts to regain his power and destroy the Islamic State.
Putin has stated he wishes to have closer ties with the West, and mentioned that he was receiving favorable replies over the weekend. The Ukraine owes Russia $3 billion with a payment due shortly but Putin, as a gesture of good faith, said he would be willing to restructure the debt if certain Western nations could guarantee that the Ukranians would repay the debt.
Putin said that everyone must move forward and stay in an alliance against the common enemy that is the Islamic State. Putin has the leverage now since he committed his air force to the Syrian civil war back in September. Russian warplanes continue to make air attacks on Islamic State positions as well as be there in support for troops moving on the ground. Russia has always struggled with militant Islam and there is a fear there that Russian citizens are just moles waiting to bring terror and death to the country.
Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, has stated that at least 7,000 Russian citizens have left the country to join the efforts of the Islamic State. The Islamic State has already sent a video to Russia in which they promise to bring a “sea of blood” to the country in the near future.
Security and intelligence analysts have repeatedly said that those 7,000 are already coming back to Russia and it is quite likely that they will have the resources, and the will, to make that “sea of blood” happen.
