Official website of the President of Russia

Terrorism has emerged as one of the greatest threats to global peace and security in the 21^st Century. Recent events this year in both of our countries, including the tragic subway bombings in Moscow in March, the explosion in Stavropol in May, the attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square in May, and the unsuccessful bombing of a U.S. passenger airliner in December 2009, all underscore the crucial need to further expand counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and the Russian Federation through joint actions in the areas of law enforcement, transportation security, intelligence sharing, terrorism finance, counterterrorism technology, and within the framework of multilateral fora.

Building on our already robust partnership on counterterrorism which was reflected in the results of the meeting of the Counterterrorism Working Group of the U.S.-Russia Presidential Commission on May 28, 2010, we pledged today to take additional steps to safeguard the citizens of our countries, and at the same time safeguard civil liberties and fundamental freedoms. Our military structures are considering questions regarding the conduct of joint counterterrorism exercises. Underscoring the commitment to ensuring the safety of each country’s transportation systems, we are continuing discussions aimed at concluding Memoranda of Understanding on aviation security in order to exchange aviation-related information and to allow joint airport assessments and air carrier inspections, and on sharing best practices in public mass transportation security. We also achieved a principle understanding to establish an arrangement to allow air marshals to operate on flights between our countries. We also aim to jointly lead an effort within the Group of Eight countries on the role and experiences of victims and survivors of terrorism, while we continue to work closely together within the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, a successful U.S.-Russia project created in 2006.

We reaffirmed our common view of the threat to global security posed by al Qa’ida and advocated continued cooperation to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qa’ida.

Identifying and isolating terrorists is integral to our efforts. We welcomed Russia's efforts to update and enhance the implementation of the sanctions regime under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1822, and the decision by the United States to list Doku Umarov of the so-called “Caucasus Emirate” as a specially designated global terrorist under U.S. Executive Order 13244. Under the auspices of the Presidential Commission, our dialogue has added depth to our understanding of ways to counter violent extremism while enhancing respect for human rights.

We are pleased with the cooperation we have established to date in this area, and remain prepared to explore further means to promote international security, repel terrorist threats, protect the lives and rights of citizens, and bring terrorists to justice.