al-Qaeda flags
© AP Photo
The United States is blocking Russia's proposal to include the Islamic State on the UN Security Council's sanctions list as an independent organization, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for New Challenges and Threats Ilya Rogachev said Thursday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's official said that ISIL is outlined in the UN Security Council's sanctions list as one of the names of al-Qaeda in Iraq, while it is no secret that the Islamic State is an independent structure acting as a rival of al-Qaeda.

"It is no secret that the Islamic State is an independent structure, acting, to a certain extent, as a rival of al-Qaeda. Meanwhile, it is outlined in the UN Security Council's sanctions list as one of the names of al-Qaeda in Iraq. We have proposed to include the Islamic State as an independent organization, but our proposals are being blocked by Western members of the Security Council, especially the United States, under various pretexts," Rogachev told RIA Novosti.

Russia is currently discussing individual aspects in proposals with its foreign partners to create a greater coalition in the fight against the radical Islamic State that should use force under permission from the UN Security Council and the government of the country that is affected, Rogachev said.

"We are naturally 'digesting' individual aspects of our proposals with our foreign partners. A coalition's activities must act on the UN Security Council's permission to use military force, as well as permission from the governments of those countries that are affected by these activities. An anti-terrorist coalition must integrate all of the interested governments in order to be effective," Ilya Rogachev said.