MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Proponents of terrorism have preserved the potential for launching new attacks so counterterrorism efforts should be strengthened, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"Terrorists have kept the potential for plotting acts of terror, as the circumstance demonstrates, both here and in other countries," the president said. "Organized groups or diehard, fanatical lone-wolves can be behind such crimes," Putin noted.

"New forms and methods of countering such threats should be used," he stressed.
It is necessary to galvanize preventive efforts to deter terrorist acts, identify terrorist recruiters and accomplices, block channels of weapons and money supplies to criminals and quash the propaganda of radicals and extremists over the Internet, the head of state said.

Putin also said that, despite the difficulties in relations with a number of countries, Moscow is ready for counterterrorism cooperation with them.

"Regardless of our current relations with certain countries, Russia will always be open to close and trust-based work in the fight against international terrorism, this common challenge to all of humanity," he said at a meeting of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) board.

"It is necessary to facilitate cooperation, coordinate efforts with our foreign counterparts, primarily, of course, with our partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and with colleagues in other countries," he said.