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At the meeting, Mr Putin stressed the universal role of the UN and Russia’s great responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Mr Putin and Mr Annan discussed ways to strengthen the authority and influence of the UN, as well as Russia’s efforts towards that goal.

The participants touched on the Kosovo problem. The acting president emphasised the important lesson which the UN and all nations had to learn from that tragedy. He said that Russia rejected the principles of ‘humanitarian intervention’, which nullified those of ‘territorial integrity’ and ‘inviolability’.

Mr Putin highly praised UN’s humanitarian mission in the North Caucasus. He particularly acknowledged the role of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The prime minister stressed that Russia was ready to continue doing everything in its power to facilitate the work of the UN agencies in the North Caucasus.

The acting president told the Secretary General about the efforts of the Russian authorities to restore peace in the North Caucasus. Mr Annan said that the UN supported Russia in its effort to exterminate terrorism. He added, however, that there was a number of questions concerning the humanitarian situation.

Vladimir Putin shared the observations he had made at recent meetings with ministers of foreign affairs of Germany and Italy. He underlined that Western point of view and approach to the issue were quite clear to him.