THE fight against terrorism is radically changing the entire system of international relations as coalition partners rally around a common goal as they did in the fight against Nazism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday at World War II commemoration ceremonies.
Addressing veterans who fought against Nazi Germany in the war that ended on May 8, 1945, Putin called for the setting aside of differences and rejection of stereotypes, and warned that even the wealthiest nations were not immune from extremism.
And in an aside implicitly directed at the United States, he warned against unilateral actions which, he said, could endanger world peace as much as Nazism did in the 1930s.
Identifying terrorism as the world’s greatest enemy, Putin noted that ”just as during the anti-Nazi coalition, we are trying to put aside our differences and reject stereotypes, uniting around a common cause.
”The united front created by the anti-terrorist coalition has already become a real factor in world politics, a factor which is fundamentally changing the entire system of international relations.”
He told the veterans that even during the Cold War the ”comradeship of arms remained above political differences, … helping us today to build new bridges of trust and understanding.”
All aggression, including terrorism, ”is rooted in extremism, hatred of foreigners and people with different beliefs,” he said, warning that ”even well-to-do countries, proud of their democratic traditions, are not insured against extremism of the kind that generates terrorism.”
Stressing the need to learn from the past, Putin warned that ”attempts to dictate, the desire to achieve unilateral advantages are just as destructive for global stability as they were six decades ago.”
Although not directed at anyone in particular, the remark was a transparent reference to the US abrogation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty as well as its stated desire to overthrow the regime of President Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
No one nation will be able to eliminate the evils of terrorism on its own, he said.
Earlier Putin laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier outside the Kremlin walls.
He spoke privately with a group of around 50 veterans from Russia, other former Soviet republics including the Baltic states, and other countries.
Although Russia celebrates Victory Day, marking the German capitulation, a day later than the rest of Europe, ceremonies began throughout Russia on Wednesday, with Putin accompanied at the wreath-laying by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and several leading political and military figures.
The highlight of the commemorations, the annual military parade through Red Square, takes place on Thursday.
Compared with other European countries, World War II commemorations have traditionally played a much greater role in public life in Russia and the former Soviet Union whose wartime losses are estimated at 20-million people. ? Sapa-AFP