Esteemed Mr. Secretary General,

Esteemed ladies and gentlemen,

The present session of the UN General Assembly is being held under the banner of the unprecedented challenge thrown down to mankind by international terrorism. All of us have yet to seriously analyze how this could happen and why we, having political, economic and military power, allowed that. But it has already become perfectly clear now that the era of globalization, and the threats and challenges to world and regional security that it carries with it, insistently and formidably demand radically new approaches to international affairs of us all.

The time of discussions and arguments about what the configuration of a future world pattern and the role in it of this or that state should be, has irrevocably receded into the past. A hard dilemma faces us today, the resolution of which has a truly epochal significance. Either we will join efforts in solidarity in the crucial building of a truly just and democratic world order ensuring equal security and sustainable development for all states of the world, or - stuck in further scholastic arguments - we will further prove unable to counteract the real, not hypothetical threats to world stability and security and involuntarily allow the forces of evil to manipulate the international community. We can for decades yet discuss what to put into the notion "terrorism," and terrorists in the meantime will commit their crimes.

In a word, a decisive moment has come for all of us. We are simply duty bound in the interests of succeeding generations to close the ranks of the international community and get down to practical actions. And the most urgent of them, undoubtedly, is the establishment of a global system of counteraction against new threats and challenges, the chief of which is international terrorism. It is only natural that this was the central theme during the talks between President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and US President George Bush these days in Washington and Crawford.

The world antiterrorist coalition, of which Russia is a responsible participant, has begun to operate. It is crucial that the formation of this coalition has been going with the consolidating and coordinating role of the United Nations. For the UN has the necessary universality, authority, experience and resources to organize a collective rebuff to terrorism on the solid foundation of international law.

The important decisions adopted by the UN Security Council and General Assembly over the last few months have laid a solid politico-legal groundwork of efforts to neutralize the threat of terrorism, envisaging a broad range of concrete antiterrorist measures. It is now important that these decisions should be implemented by all states to the fullest possible extent.

If necessary, the most drastic means of struggle can also be employed against terrorists, up to and including the use of military force. The Charter of the United Nations gives a right to this. At the same time it is obvious that by methods of force alone this threat cannot be coped with. A comprehensive approach to the eradication of terrorism presupposes the activation of the entire range of measures of a political, economic, financial and humanitarian character.

Strengthening the international-legal base of the struggle against terrorism is in order. Of priority importance is a speedy completion of the agreeing on and adoption in the UN of a Comprehensive Counter-Terrorism Convention and a Convention for the Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism. We are convinced that UN member states are quite able to accomplish this task before the end of the current session of the General Assembly.

A separate crucial task is to ensure a speedy accession of all states to the already signed and operative international antiterrorist conventions. It might be well to create in the UN a mechanism of monitoring the fulfillment by states of their treaty obligations in the field of combating terrorism.

We also regard as promising the idea of establishing under the aegis of the UN a Center for the Coordination of Assistance to States in Dealing with Crisis Situations Brought on by Acts of Terrorism. The activities of the structure would be concentrated on the rendering of consultative and material-technical assistance in the elimination of the consequences of terrorist acts.

Russia is also proposing that a study be made of the possibility of confirming in international law the principle of the responsibility of states for not taking action against terrorists who are on their territories or under their jurisdiction.

Of key importance to ensuring a successful and comprehensive struggle against international terrorism is the preservation and consolidation of strategic stability on the global and regional levels and the strengthening of the regimes for the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It is necessary to do everything to fully exclude any possibility of such weapons getting into the hands of terrorists. This will require the joining of efforts to accomplish such key tasks as strict observance of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, imparting a universal character to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and ensuring an effective control regime for the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons. Russia will continue to exert vigorous efforts for the attaining of these objectives.

The problem of the mutual penetration and coalescence of international terrorism, drug business and transnational organized crime should remain in the focus of attention of the international community. These dangerous phenomena have similar, and sometimes also common channels of financial support. Hence the importance of a speedy enactment of the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism. Russia intends to ratify this agreement in the shortest space of time possible.

A no less urgent task is to launch the mechanisms of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the additional protocols to it.

In a word, things should be getting hot for those who plan and carry out terrorist attacks or support them, who are involved in the transfrontier machinations of Mafia groupings or drug barons. The inevitability of personal responsibility for these crimes must become a decisive factor of their suppression and prevention. Evil should and will be punished. It cannot be covered with political, nationalistic or religious slogans. Terrorism has no other face, except criminal. There can be neither doubts, nor double standards here.

It is also perfectly clear that the fight against terrorism is not directed against any religion, civilization or culture. This has been strikingly demonstrated by the discussion at the current UN General Assembly session of the dialogue among civilizations. We also hope that a practical contribution to work in this direction will be made by the realization of the initiative of Islam religious workers of Russia for holding an international conference in Moscow on the theme "Islam Versus Terrorism." We note with satisfaction the broad support of this proposal.

It is again perfectly clear that terrorism is rooted in the unevenness of economic and social development, the gap between wealth and poverty both within states and internationally. Poverty and dispossession, illiteracy and unemployment - these are the nutrient medium for terrorism. Relevant therefore today, as never before, is the task of ensuring the sustained development of all regions of the world, and deepening the social focus of the process of globalization. The UN and its specialized institutions are called upon to have their weighty say in the reformation of today's financial and economic structure on a balanced and nondiscriminatory basis.

The UN can yet do a lot in the matter of forming an active worldwide non-acceptance of extremism of any kind - be it aggressive nationalism, militant separatism or religious intolerance. Not only states ought to make a substantial contribution to this work, but also civil society, including leading non-governmental organizations. We suggest considering the convocation of a UN world forum which would discuss the contribution of civil society and, in particular, the mass media to the struggle against terrorism.

International practice shows that new threats and challenges assume the most dangerous forms in zones of instability and regional conflicts - whether in Afghanistan, the Middle East or the Balkans. Successful prevention and settlement of regional conflicts is an inalienable component element of the counterterrorist efforts of the international community.

This is yet another weighty argument in favor of the further building-up and enhancement of the effectiveness of the preventive and peacemaking activities of the UN. It is in our common interests to equip the world Organization with a modern arsenal of means for improving its anticrisis potential. In particular, Russia advocates the development in the UN of a comprehensive strategy aimed at reliably cutting the routes of external funding for conflicts.

The interconnection of the efforts for the maintenance of peace and search of adequate responses to the newest challenges in the field of security dictates the necessity of expanding and deepening regional cooperation.

The Commonwealth of Independent States is an example of this kind of successful partnership. With the energetic participation of Russia big work is being conducted within the CIS on the basis of the Treaty on Cooperation in the Fight against Terrorism, signed by the heads of government of the Commonwealth member states in 1999. A CIS antiterrorist center has been established and begun to function effectively. By and large cooperation is effectively developing in the Commonwealth area in the struggle against organized crime and illicit drug trafficking.

Of course, the UN's decisions and those of other international and regional bodies on counteraction against terrorism and other latest challenges are effective insomuch as they are implemented by the world community as a whole. Evidently there is no state today where the task of bringing national legislation into conformity with international standards is not relevant.

Russia is also solving this task. A guarantee of the success of the work of all the power branches in our country in this field is the consent in Russian society about the need to eradicate terrorism and extremism within our state and on the global level. We also intend to strengthen the historically established foundations in our country of peaceful and harmonious coexistence of the members of different religions, nationalities and cultures. Based on this foundation, Russia will continue to make a constructive contribution to shaping a global system of counteraction against new threats and challenges.

Mr. President,

A moment of truth has now come for us all and the international community as a whole. The time has come to take crucial decisions which will determine the future of our planet for the long term.

As to Russia, we are in favor of taking decisions which would ensure strategic stability and equal security for all states, sustainable development and prosperity for all peoples of the planet, peace and tranquility for each family and for each person.

To attain these objectives in the context of globalization, in the face of contemporary threats and challenges is only possible together, by joining in solidarity the efforts of the international community. There is simply no other way to prosperity and civilized progress. And the United Nations is to play a decisive role here. Created half a century ago by the anti-Hitler coalition powers with a view to preventing the revival of man-hating ideologies and regimes, the UN now too has a largely similar task among its chief priorities. Moreover, the United Nations was and remains the most important instrument in the hands of the world community, the effective and responsible use of which will enable us, I am convinced, to form a democratic and equitable new world order of the 21st century.


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© Publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.