Remarks at a Meeting of Top Members of the Russian Diplomatic Service.Part 1
January 26,2001
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Moscow.
Выступление на совещании руководящего состава сотрудников дипломатической службы России
26 января 2001 года
Москва, Министерство иностранных дел.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon.
I am genuinely glad to have this opportunity to visit the Foreign Ministry and take part in your meeting today. The recent months have seen many major international events which have kept us on a very tight schedule. Our conversation today is a chance to review some results and outline the range of tasks facing us.The new foreign policy concept just presented by the Minister formulates our national interests in the world. They are related to the tasks in the field of defense and national security, and social and economic development of Russia. Perhaps for the first time in a considerable period we have a clear-cut national security and foreign policy strategy. I think it is important that in our current work we have managed to stick to the basic concepts of foreign policy and on the whole have managed to translate them into a concerted effort of many government bodies, non-governmental organisations and the business community.You know better than anyone that the problems Russia faces in the world today are serious and large-scale. In the context of growing globalisation, which is much discussed, our country has yet to find its place in the world. In this context our strategic course is integration into the world community, the development of a broad political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation with all those who are willing and ready to cooperate with us.
The foreign policy priority is to create a stable and secure situation around Russia, to create conditions that would enable us to concentrate a maximum of effort and resources on meeting the social and economic challenges facing the state.Clearly, today the arsenal of tools that we can use to influence the international situation is objectively not so large as we would like it to be and this makes it particularly important for us to forecast in advance the developments in the main areas of our foreign policy, especially where the potential for conflict is still considerable: in the Balkans, the Middle East and some other regions of the world.Ensuring strategic stability is a key area of diplomatic efforts. We seek stable and predictable development of international relations. The fact that Washington has put on hold the deployment of the National Missile Defense system confirms that given a focused, well-thought-out and pro-active approach, with due account of the interests of our partners, real positive results can be achieved.
And there is another point I would like to make in connection with these problems. We have ratified the START II and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. When I say we, I mean our country. Russia has done everything the international community expected it to do, I stop short of using the word demanded, but in any case it was pressing Russia to take that step. We have done it. Now we await reciprocal steps, and I dont think that an overwhelming majority of countries want to see a unilateral disarmament of Russia. On the contrary, in my opinion it would cause irreparable damage to the modern architecture of international relations.This year you will be called upon to do some complicated and delicate work with our partners to preserve the 1972 Treaty. The latest statements by the officials of the new US Administration show that the dialogue can be positive. We look forward to joint work in that field.It is also important that we have learned to uphold our interests firmly, but without any element of confrontation. We often hesitate to confront our partners with sharp questions knowing in advance that they would find them unacceptable. It is of course necessary to know and be mindful of the others position, but there should be no doubt as to the main benchmark: our own national interests, provided they are well argued.Our country faces a number of challenges. They include regional conflicts, separatism, terrorism, uncontrolled migration, organised crime and others. I would like to single out the danger of international terrorism and fundamentalism of whatever stripe. We have repeatedly referred to something that is already entering international public domain: it is obvious that a terrorist international is emerging. And there we should work together with our partners in a coordinated way. It is in our interests to help establish effective mechanisms of international cooperation in all these areas.
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В.Путин.Выступление на совещании.26.01.01 Part 2by niknikolay151 views
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