President Putin To Pay More Attention To Russia's Cooperation With Ibero-American Countries

Global cooperation in fighting terrorism could become an important area of Russia's interaction with Ibero-American countries, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in his message of greetings to participants in the 11th meeting of the presidents of Ibero-American countries. The presidential press service said that the message said, in part: "The meeting is taking place at a time when the problem of international terrorism, which is an unprecedented challenge to mankind, is the centre of world attention. Russia supports the unification of efforts by all nations to combat this dreadful evil. We are convinced that organisations and institutions created to consolidate international security, most importantly the United Nations and the UN Security Council, are playing a key role in these efforts. The time demands that we take ruthless and decisive actions to stop terrorist activities and to effectively counter all forms of political and financial support for terrorists. It is also necessary to improve the international legislative base so that the response to threats posed by terrorists could be prompt and appropriate." President Putin also pointed out in his message that Russia is willing to have a consistent and meaningful dialogue on this issue wi! ! thin the framework of the UN, as well as such regional forums as the Inter-American Committee on Terrorism (CICTE) and the Rio Group.