25 February 2003 00:00
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SENDS GREETINGS TO PARTICIPANTS OF THE THIRTEENTH CONFERENCE OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE NONALIGNED MOVEMENT
2003-02-24-01
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message of greetings to the Participants of the Thirteenth Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Nonaligned Movement being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The message reads in part:
"Russia regards the Nonaligned Movement, uniting in its ranks more than half of the world's states, as the exponent of the collective interests of the developing countries in the era of globalization. A key element in present-day international relations, the Nonaligned Movement has invariably demonstrated its adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and the underlying rules and principles of international law and makes a weighty positive contribution to shaping a just and democratic world pattern of the 21st century.
"Russia and the Nonaligned Movement are unanimous in the understanding that the widening gap in levels of economic and social development of states is a source of new dangerous contradictions in the world. Taking this into account, we highly appreciate the role of the Movement in dealing with such burning issues as sustainable development, the elimination of poverty and illiteracy, and the creation of worthy conditions of existence for the hundreds of millions of people living in the developing countries.
"The Nonaligned Movement makes a great contribution to the common efforts of the world community, directed to countering the most destructive global challenges and threats, among them international terrorism and organized crime, militant separatism and the illicit drug trafficking.
"Russia, which is bound with the Movement by the long-standing relations of friendship and mutual respect, is interested in the further deepening of cooperation both with the Movement as a whole and with its members in the interest of bolstering international peace and stability."
___________________________________________________________
© Publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
| 
RUSSIA IN FACTS