Russia, 2004

I am addressing the Assembly today at a most

difficult time for our country, when tears are still being

shed by those who lost their children and loved ones

during the horrific terrorist attack in the Russian city of

Beslan. I would like from this rostrum to take this

opportunity to express once again my gratitude to all

those who have shown their solidarity with Russia in

these tragic days. Our special thanks go to the States and

international organizations that extended their helping

hand to the victims and the bereaved families ó to all

those who have suffered from this outrage.

I am also addressing the Assembly at a moment

of truth, when there cannot possibly be any doubt

whatever remaining as to the true nature of

international terrorism and the challenge it has flung

down before the world community. With their actions

throughout the world, the terrorists have once and for

all placed themselves in opposition to civilized

mankind. In fact, having made the mass murder of

people an end in itself, they have knowingly violated

all norms of human morality.

Russia has drawn harsh conclusions. They have

been set forth in the 4 and 13 September addresses by

the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir V.

Putin. We will not allow anyone to encroach on the

sovereignty of our State. We will resolutely strengthen

the unity of the country and its people in order to

counter terror and to guarantee a secure and decent life

for our citizens in freedom and democracy.

The measures announced by the Russian

President to achieve these objectives will be

implemented on the basis of our countryís

Constitution; and we will continue to defend our

legitimate interests throughout the world, not through

confrontation, but by means of equitable dialogue,

cooperation and partnership. Moreover, a readiness to

engage in honest cooperation in fighting terrorism

without double standards, is becoming one of the key

criteria in our relations with any and all States.

We must enter into a qualitatively new and critical

stage in the activities of the anti-terrorist coalition. The

meeting of the Security Council of 1 September

demonstrated the strong determination of the

international community to continue its fight against

terrorism in a consistent way. It is important now to

translate this commitment into practical actions as

quickly as possible.

In the three years that have passed since the

terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, a

lot has been done to develop effective partnership in

this sphere. However, compared to the scale of the

threat, far from enough has been done. It is important

to learn lessons from the experience gained and to

draw conclusions for the future.

First, the global nature of the terrorist threat testifies

to the fact that security in todayís world is indivisible.

Consequently, only collective responsibility can make

the world secure. The fight against terrorism should

unite States rather than pit them against each other. We

can deal with this evil only on a multilateral basis by

combining our efforts and acting in the spirit of solidarity.

As President Putin has declared, Russia considers the

objective of strengthening the anti-terrorist coalition to

be one of our most important tasks.

A special emphasis here should be placed on

intensifying the cooperation among our special services,

which, we are convinced, must now be raised to a

qualitatively new level of trust and coordinated action.

Secondly, a clear strategy and a generally

acceptable legal framework are the prerequisites for

success in combating terrorism. Such a framework is

enshrined in resolution 1373 (2001) and in other

decisions of the Security Council. But now, additional

efforts are needed. They include making necessary

amendments to national legislation, acceding to

international anti-terrorist conventions and finalizing

new international counter-terrorism legal instruments.

In circumstances where international terrorism

has declared war on our entire civilization, the

determination of States to use their right of self-

defence in conformity with Article 51 of the United

Nations Charter is of particular importance. Of course

international law is clearly not an inalterable dogma.

The fight against terrorism calls for its development

and improvement.

Thirdly, the time has come to renounce double

standards once and for all when it comes to terror,

regardless of the slogans in which it may be cloaked.

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Those who slaughtered children in Beslan and hijacked

aeroplanes to attack America are creatures of the same

ilk.

Harbouring terrorists, their henchmen and their

sponsors undermines unity and mutual trust among

those that form part of the anti-terrorist front, serves as

justification for the actions of terrorists and indeed

encourages them to commit similar crimes in other

countries. I would recall that United Nations decisions

require States granting political asylum to carefully

examine the personal records of each individual to

make sure that he or she has no links to terrorism.

Attempts to use the fight against terrorism in various

geopolitical games are even more counterproductive

and dangerous.

Fourth, the utter atrociousness of the recent

terrorist attacks proves there is the need for reliable

safeguards against terrorists gaining access to weapons

of mass destruction. Russia is prepared for the closest

kind of international partnership in that area. Our

country was one of the sponsors of Security Council

resolution 1540 (2004). It is a participant in the

Proliferation Security Initiative and a co-sponsor of the

Group of Eight (G-8) Action Plan on Non-

Proliferation. Those initiatives are complementary and

are designed to increase the effectiveness of the regime of

the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

something which is especially relevant on the eve of the

2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Fifth, drug trafficking is increasingly interwoven

with terrorism. The drug flow from Afghanistan has

acquired global significance. The implementation of a

set of social, economic and law-enforcement measures

both within and outside the borders of that country is

now more urgent than ever. One of the key elements of

that strategy lies in strengthening the existing anti-drug

security belts and creating new ones.

Russia is making an important contribution

towards resolving the drug problem, including through

the formulation of specific legal, political and

operational measures within the framework of the

Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective

Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). We are ready to

coordinate actions with the Government of

Afghanistan, and with the multinational and coalition

forces operating in that country.

Sixth, international terrorists have neither

nationality nor religion. In fact, it is specifically

religion and national culture that, today as never

before, require protection from the devastating impact

of extremism of any kind. There is a need for

respectful dialogue among various religions and

civilizations. Russia, which is open both to the West

and to the East, is ready to play its part in that process,

which is intended to prevent a split in civilization.

Another pressing task today is the saving of

world spiritual and cultural monuments from attacks by

extremists. We deem it essential to establish

cooperation in that area between the United Nations

and its specialized agencies, primarily the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO). Failing to act here ó as well

as standing by in silence at the desecration of

memorials to Second World War heroes and victims

and at attempts to rehabilitate fascists ó can only play

into the hands of those who wish to incite extremist

trends in society.

Seventh, Russia believes that the United Nations

must continue to play a pivotal role in uniting the

efforts of the international community in its fight

against terrorism. As Chair of the Security Councilís

Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), our country

intends to actively contribute to speeding up the reform

of that Committee. We propose drafting a new Security

Council resolution that would ensure the most effective

possible functioning of the CTC, so as to identify, in a

timely manner, weak links in the anti-terrorism

network and increase practical cooperation between the

CTC and international and regional organizations,

including the Commonwealth of Independent States

(CIS), the CSTO and the Shanghai Cooperation

Organization.

The CIS summit held recently in Astana,

Kazakhstan, reaffirmed the strong potential of CIS

regional structures in all areas, from anti-terrorist

activities and ensuring collective security to

intensifying economic integration.

Certainly, in an increasingly interdependent

world, the war on terrorism cannot be considered in

isolation from other pressing issues facing mankind.

This is especially relevant to the settlement of

conflicts, which for decades have been destabilizing

the situation at the regional and global levels. Through

its decisions, the General Assembly must promote a

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Middle East settlement on the basis of commitments

made by the parties under the road map. Yesterday, the

Quartet of international mediators spoke out to that end.

The situation in Iraq is a source of serious

concern. Russia is ready to render all possible

assistance towards attaining a political settlement

aimed at preserving Iraqís territorial integrity and

ensuring its political sovereignty and a genuinely

democratic post-war recovery. The search for national

reconciliation within Iraq is of key significance; here,

the Iraqis could be assisted by the holding of an

international conference with the participation of all

major Iraqi political forces, friendly States, Security

Council members and the League of Arab States and

other organizations.

We must remain vigilant with regard to Kosovo,

which is a dangerous hotbed of tension. There is no

room for complacency. We must work to ensure that

universally recognized standards of human rights and

the rights of national minorities are applied in the

region. We also need to make full use of existing

mechanisms for conflict settlement within the CIS.

Consolidating the peacemaking capacity of the

international community is crucial to overcoming

regional crises. A collective response to humanitarian

crises, in particular those on the African continent, in

full compliance with the United Nations Charter and in

a spirit of partnership with regional structures, would

leave no doubt that the Charter remains a universal

basis for the effective solution of such problems.

The United Nations must continue to focus its

attention on other global threats to security and

sustainable development as well. Those include the

eradication of poverty and illiteracy as a breeding

ground for extremism. Annually, our country grants

1,000 scholarships to students from African countries.

Russia has contributed $7.5 million to the Global Fund

to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and has

provided bilateral humanitarian assistance to a number

of African countries.

Among the challenges and threats is that of

finding ways to bridge the gap between poor and rich

States. Russia has been making its contribution there;

between 1998 and 2002 it wrote off the debt of African

countries equivalent to $11.2 billion.

Another challenge is ensuring environmental

security. Here I would like to confirm that in

accordance with the decision of President Vladimir V.

Putin we are now engaged in serious consideration of

ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

The challenges also include preventing the

transformation of outer space into a theatre of armed

confrontation. Together with China, we are calling for the

conclusion of a comprehensive agreement to that end. We

call upon all countries with space capability to join in that

initiative. There is also a growing need to elaborate a

United Nations convention on outer space law.

A further challenge is the fight against gross

violations of human rights, with a view to ensuring the

security and dignity of the individual. The United

Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation

in Europe, the Council of Europe and other

organizations should not remain passive spectators

when, in some countries, a considerable part of the

population is deprived of citizenship and consequently

of basic political, social and economic rights.

On Russiaís initiative, the General Assembly, at

its fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth sessions, adopted

resolutions 57/145 and 58/16 respectively, on

establishing, under the aegis of the United Nations, a

comprehensive approach to countering new threats and

challenges. The resolutions contain specific guidelines

for bringing the international community closer to a

new security model that would meet the global

challenges of the twenty-first century.

Those are the lines along which the High-level

Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, established

by the Secretary-General, is organizing its work. We

hope that its recommendations will pave the way for a

genuine enhancement of the effectiveness of the United

Nations. At the same time, reform of the Organization,

and particularly of the Security Council, should be

based on the broadest possible agreement and should

not provoke the alienation of States.

The international community is undergoing a

complex period in its establishment of a new system of

international relations. It is already clear that this will

be a long-term process with an uncertain future and

one that, so far, is difficult to predict. At the same time,

there is an enormous increase in the number of new

unresolved problems and new dangerous challenges to

security and the development of mankind. We still lack

a collective strategy and universally applicable

mechanisms for responding to those challenges. In fact,

33

we have to constantly improvise and use makeshift

means to ensure world stability.

A question arises as to whether we could soon

find ourselves in a situation in which events start to go

out of control. Is it not time for the international

community to assume an active role in impacting upon

global processes and taking targeted actions to

establish a more secure and just world order? Russia is

fully determined, together with other countries, to

build such a world order and take its proper place

therein as a free and democratic State.

More than half a century ago, the civilized world

put aside all its disputes and differences and mobilized

its efforts to counter the deadly threat of Nazi

enslavement. The enemy that opposes us today is no

less dangerous and no less merciless. Russia sincerely

hopes that the forthcoming sixtieth anniversary of the

end of World War II and the establishment of the

United Nations will become a historic milestone on the

path to a world order in which the twenty-first century

sees the noble principles of peace, stability and

development enshrined in the United Nations Charter

hold sway.