Putin finds it very important to pool efforts to ensure equal security in Euro-Atlantic space

The president sent a message of greetings to the participants in the international conference titled "Military and political aspects of European security” in Moscow on Thursday. Head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Ivanov read out the message of greetings at the forum.

Noting that the conference "brought together a quite authoritative audience from representatives of the defence agencies of European countries, the United States and Canada, the key international organizations - the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), NATO and the European Union,” Putin noted an extreme importance "to pool efforts of all countries concerned and the expert community to work out the steps to ensure equal security and a joint strategy of the struggle against emerging threats and challenges,” taking into account "current global threats and a stronger instability in several neighbouring regions, growing threats of international terrorism, the proliferation of mass destruction weapons and drug trafficking.”

"For this purpose there are appropriate prerequisites today: the absence of essential ideological disagreements, mutual interrelations of the economies, developing cultural, scientific, business ties and the contacts between people. However, there are some disagreements in the views, for instance, over the deployment of the global missile defence system, a broader NATO military infrastructure, the control over conventional armed forces and their reduction,” Vladimir Putin said in the message of greetings.

"With this in view, the tasks, which our forum faces, are very topical and important. I hope that you will succeed to make your contribution in the forging of mutual trust and mutual understanding. I also do not doubt that the ideas and recommendations that you voiced will be needed and will promote the build-up of security in Europe and international stability in general,” the Russian president noted.

He wished a fruitful work to the participants in the conference.

ITAR-TASS