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The conference, which is taking place in Luxembourg on May 24–25, coincides with Mr Putin’s visit to the Grand Duchy and was organised with Russian support. The Russian Jewish Congress is the event’s organiser.

The conference’s main subject is the future of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the drafting of recommendations for a roadmap setting out concrete proposals to strengthen the NPT. Mr Putin spoke of the need for such action at the Munich security conference on February 10, 2007.

Representatives of leading American, European and Russian political analysis centres and scientific institutes have been invited to the conference. Participants include head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed El-Baradei, Russian academician Nikolai Laverov and former U.S. Defence Secretary William Perry.

Mr Putin’s message of greetings reads, in particular:

“The end of the cold war has considerably reduced the nuclear threat, but the world has not become safer. We find ourselves facing new challenges today and combating threats that are different to but no less complex than those of the past. Chief among these new threats is international terrorism and the danger of nuclear weapons or related materials falling into the hands of terrorists.

The increasing role played by force in world affairs is another destabilising factor and is creating a situation in which some countries are tempted to follow the nuclear road. We must overcome such negative trends by making use of multilateral diplomacy and effectively functioning instruments of international law.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is a crucial component of international security and stability. We must base ourselves above all on its provisions in our efforts to neutralise new threats to the non-proliferation regime. An organic interlinking of disarmament and non-proliferation efforts together with peaceful use of nuclear energy is the key to success in this work.

Russia strictly observes all of its disarmament commitments. We are successfully implementing the agreements we have concluded in this area and we are ready to take further constructive steps. We hope that individual countries and the international community as a whole will become our partners in ensuring stability and security.

We also need to put in place the political and economic conditions that would fully guarantee the non-nuclear states’ right to develop peaceful nuclear energy programmes in strict accordance with their NPT commitments. This is the goal of our initiative to create the prototype for a global nuclear energy infrastructure. We have already taken the first step in this direction by establishing an international uranium enrichment centre on Russian territory.

All-round support for the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency and increased effectiveness of its control functions are an important part of efforts to strengthen the non-proliferation regime”.