UN: The Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, avoided the dispute over Iraq at the United Nations yesterday but sought to galvanise the world community to take more robust steps to halt the spread of dangerous weapons and fight terror.
Mr Putin kept out of the controversy over how quickly sovereignty should be restored in post-war Iraq - an issue that has sharply divided the United States and France.
Instead the Russian president switched the focus to the need for tougher action to fight terror acts, whether in New York, Baghdad or rebel Chechnya, telling the UN General Assembly it was "duty-bound to become a basis for the global anti-terrorist coalition".
And in other comments certain to find favour in the Bush camp, Mr Putin called for increased efforts to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
"These include further universalisation of the existing nonproliferation regimes, the strengthening of international verification instruments and the introduction of safe technology in nuclear production and energy," Mr Putin said.
He made no specific mention of Russia's nuclear energy co-operation with Iran, which has come under attack by the US.
Mr Putin also resurrected an old Russian call for a comprehensive agreement among the space powers to avoid the militarisation of outer space. But he dropped from his prepared text, distributed to all delegates, a pledge that Russia would not be the first to deploy offensive weapons in outer space.
Mr Putin did not criticise the US military action in Iraq. But he told journalists before leaving Moscow that the present level of disorder in Iraq had justified Moscow's opposition to the war.
He also skirted the issue of Russian participation in a US-led multinational peacekeeping force in Iraq - though he said Moscow did not rule out committing troops as long as the terms of their deployment were laid down by the UN Security Council.