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The Russian President announced that the decision to hand over the control of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya from the Defence Ministry to the Federal Security Service was justified. He stressed that the latest results of the special service were the best proof. Mr Putin believes that now the main forces for fighting terrorism should be slowly shifting towards the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to him, the issue of fighting terrorism will remain high on the agenda, and it has two aspects: a purely national one related to the developments in the North Caucasus and Chechnya, and a clearly international aspect. The international aspect concerns the situation in Afghanistan and neighbouring Central Asian republics of the CIS on the southern borders of Russia, which is of importance to Russia when taking into account the priorities of the Russian foreign policy.

The situation in Afghanistan was also discussed.