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National foreign policy is not an issue that concerns one or two agencies, but rather a wide circle of government and civilian structures must contribute to its shaping, the head of state said.

The President noted that the meeting was taking place on the eve of major foreign policy events: the summits of Russia-EU and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Russia-NATO summit in Rome and the forthcoming visit to Russia by President George Bush of the United States.

Russian foreign policy is becoming more pragmatic, oriented towards national interests, the achievement of economic growth and raising the people’s standard of living, Mr Putin stressed.

For example, he said, Russia and the US are no longer enemies and the atmosphere of mutual trust achieved during the last year has made it possible to conclude new agreements on strategic arms reductions, which is in the interests both of Russia and the entire world community.

According to the President, a new mechanism of interaction is being created with NATO. It is designed to finally reverse the inertia of the Cold War and allow the countries to face real and not imagined security threats.

Mr Putin said Moscow is developing a new mechanism of multilateral cooperation not only in the West but also in the East. He was referring to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in whose framework Russia would be able to promote economic and other ties of major importance for the development of Siberia and the Far East.

The President mentioned the maximum use of the possibilities opened up by the new global situation to strengthen the security of Russia, its neighbours and CIS partners as a concrete foreign policy task.

The enlarged meeting of the State Council Presidium was attended not only by regional governors, but also by the heads of the relevant committees of the two houses of the Federal Assembly, the representatives of the Government, the Presidential Executive Office and the Security Council.