Russian President: World Community Needs Time To Unite Against New Threats And Challenges

The world community needs time to realize the necessity to join efforts against threats and challenges the world is facing, the Russian President told a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac in Paris. Answering the question on the sceptic attitude of some European politicians to the new format of cooperation between Russian and NATO, Vladimir Putin said that it was quite natural. This problem appeared long ago from the opposition of the two systems, he said. "People need time to realize that the world has changed and that it is necessary to unite efforts of all mankind against contemporary threats," the Russian President noted. France once initiated new relations between NATO and Russia, Jacques Chirac recalled. According to him, Paris comes out for close cooperation in solving problems. But this proposal was not universally supported, the French President added. He admitted that the USA had some reservations on this issue which levelled the process of cooperation between Russia and NATO.