MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed satisfaction with the decrease in the number of terrorist crimes and thanked Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, which was able to prevent 68 such crimes in 2018.
"Over the past six years, Russia has seen a decrease in the number of terrorist crimes. While there were 316 such crimes in 2012 and 85 in 2014, last year there were 25," the head of state said at a FSB board meeting. In his view, "this positive trend is directly linked to the intensification of preventive counterterrorism work." Putin noted that "68 terrorist crimes, including 25 terror attacks, were prevented in 2017."
"We constantly talk about this with you, and it is important that there are results here," the president said. He thanked the FSB for thwarting terrorist attacks. "Each of these figures means our citizens’ lives that have been saved," Putin noted.
"The key objective is the fight against terrorism," the president said. He noted that "the situation requires constant attention and absolute concentration."
Putin added that "it is necessary to push ahead with vigorous efforts, use offensive tactics and strategy in the fight against terrorism and improve the coordinating role of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee." The head of state also drew attention to the fact that "it is necessary to receive latest, advance information, eliminate information and other channels used by terrorist groups, which have a global and transboundary nature."
Putin has also ordered the FSB to boost cooperation with other countries even if there are differences with them on other matters.
"As for the fight against terrorism and other challenges to civilization and global security, Russia has always been and will remain open for cooperation and joint activities with both with countries that are our allies and those who are not - with all the countries, including those we have differences with on some global issues," the Russian leader said.
"I am confident that we should stand together in the war on terror," Putin stated. "It is important to boost cooperation with foreign security services, as well as ties with our partners from the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization)," he added. According to the Russian president, "there is also a need to develop the capacities of the global counterterrorism database, which makes it possible to promptly check on people involved in terrorist groups." "On the whole, information exchange needs to be improved, while the practice of joint investigative activities should be expanded," he stressed.