Recognizing the requirements of the Islamic world provides the moral basis for a positive development of the political process in Chechnya which is taking place today, President Putin stressed answering questions from the media. He recalled, in particular, that representatives of Muslim organizations had sent their observers to the elections of the President of Chechnya and the Referendum on the Republic’s Constitution.
Mr Putin believes that Russia can play a still greater role in conflict resolution in the world. Russia has always been at the juncture of the Christian and Muslim civilizations, and has always developed as a multiconfessional country, as a link between East and West, the President said.
On the subject of the OIC Summit, Mr Putin noted that speakers had sometimes expressed debatable and extreme points of view on various problems although it was useful to hear all these opinions on the current international situation.
Russia and Russian diplomacy would be mindful of the sentiments expressed at the present conference and in the Muslim world as a whole in formulating its approach to the solution of various problems, Mr Putin said.
The President said that Russia’s participation in the OIC Summit pursued several goals: internal political, international and economic. The Government can and must open channels of communication for 20 million Russian Muslims with the Muslims of other countries, Mr Putin believes.