MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov expressed the belief, in his interview with Sputnik, that terrorist organizations were trying to use the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen their influence and recruit new supporters among those rejecting their governments' crisis response.
The pandemic has revealed the unpreparedness of some national healthcare systems to quickly react to crises, it has exposed some countries' vulnerability to terrorism threats, even though the coronavirus itself is not a bioterrorism-related phenomenon, the Russian diplomat noted.
"In some regions of the world, we see that terrorist structures seek using the situation that emerged in light of the pandemic to strengthen their influence, to promote misanthropic ideology and recruit new supporters, chiefly among those who disagree with governments' actions against the crisis," Syromolotov said.
Moscow is firmly convinced in the need to outline specific efficient measures to prevent "biological agents use for illegal purposes," the deputy foreign minister added, pointing to Russia's 2016 initiative to draft an international convention for suppressing acts of chemical and biological terrorism.
