RIA Novosti
January 28, 2005
NO MONEY SHOULD BE SPARED ON REGIONAL CONFLICT MEDIATION-PRESIDENT
PUTIN
MOSCOW, January 28 (RIA Novosti) – No money should be spared on
mediation in regional conflicts, Russian President Vladimir Putin
believes.
Speaking at a session of the National Security Council Friday, Mr.
Putin highlighted the need to encourage neighboring countries to
cooperate with Russia by providing them with “tangible preferences
and privileges.”
Russia should offer to its partners “more or less competitive
solutions to shared problems” in economics, politics, the
humanitarian sphere, and security, the President said. He said he was
talking specifically about the settlement of regional conflicts, the
enhancement of border control, protection from shared threats,
technical upgrading, and training of personnel for national armies.
These areas are too important to economize on, Mr Putin pointed out.
He recalled the government’s recent decisions concerning personnel
training programs and the sale of arms at domestic prices to fellow
members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization (besides
Russia, this alliance includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan).
“Our partners have hailed these decisions,” Mr. Putin said. On
January 25, he told about Russia’s initiatives to Kyrgyz President
Askar Akayev during this latter’s routine visit to Moscow. The
Russian leader spoke out in favor of preferential treatment for
allies when it comes to security issues, saying that “we should
continue efforts to find out more about our allies’ needs.”
Mr. Putin proposed raising the topic of Russia-EU security
cooperation at one of the forthcoming National Security Council
sessions. “I would like to request Security Council Secretary Igor
Ivanov that he put security cooperation with EU on the agenda of
future sessions,” he said.
EU member countries are reviewing their security policies now, the
Russian President remarked. Russia “maintains dialogue with its
[European] partners,” he said, stressing the need to make that
dialogue meaningful, systemic, and productive.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress