“We are faced with common threats, and we still want all countries, both in Europe and the whole world, to join their efforts to fight these threats, and we are still struggling for this,” Putin said in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper.
“I refer not only to terrorism, but also to crime, trafficking in persons, environmental protection, and many other common challenges,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian president censured NATO’s expansion toward Russian borders since the Soviet Union’s fall in 1991, and lashed out at a so-called anti-missile shield being set up by the United States in Europe. Putin said the Western expansion has been aggravating international crises.
Russia’s air force is attacking targets in Syria and Moscow says it aims to undermine Islamic State (IS), which has been joined by thousands of Russian citizens and now poses a serious threat to national security. The group claimed responsibility for downing a Russian airliner over Egypt in October, killing 224 people.
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