MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called resistance to international terrorism the main goal for the international community in the 21st century.
"It is impossible today to view the future of Europe without taking into account global tasks in the security sphere, which the entire world community has to tackle in the 21st century. The main task is undoubtedly the need to oppose new threats and challenges, such as international terrorism, which has assumed a global nature," Putin said in a greeting to participants in a conference on the role of the military in fighting terrorism, which opened in Moscow on Monday.
Interfax obtained the text of the message from the presidential press service.
New challenges can be overcome "only by combining efforts within the framework of wide multilateral cooperation and on the basis of a comprehensive strategy. Without any doubt, the military should play their role in this, as they are in the forefront of combat with the terrorist threat," reads the greeting.
Putin said he is confident that Russia and NATO have the potential for interacting in the new security framework. "It is exactly the common understanding of the need to act together that made it possible to change the quality of relations between Russia and NATO. It is fundamentally important that the antiterrorist sphere has become an integral part of our strengthening cooperation with the North Atlantic alliance," the greeting reads.
"We should not rest on what we have already attained. The need has arisen to work out an efficient system of measures on preventing acts of terrorism, curbing its financial support, and ensuring inevitable punishment for terrorists and their accomplices," he said.
Putin called for "making the NATO-Russia Council an efficiently working tool in a new architecture of security and stability in Europe."