MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Russia’s delegation will come to the 10th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption to Atlanta, US (December 11-15), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in an interview with TASS on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the convention signed by Moscow on December 9, 2003. Vershinin confirmed that he would head the delegation.
The conference remains the only universal platform for discussing the most important issues that are related to implementation of the Convention, openly and efficiently, he noted. "That said, Western countries led by the US have been doing everything for politicizing the conventional mechanisms in recent two years. We definitely prevent such attempts and jointly with fellow-thinkers work on the formation of a constructive agenda focused on practical solution of issues within the framework of the forum’s mandate," the official stressed.
"Preparations to the 10th session were challenging for our delegation as we set our face against sustained efforts by the United States and their satellites to manipulate the course of the talks on final documents," he said. "Our diplomats consistently protected the principles of equal rights and consideration of the interests of all countries within the transparent preparation process," Deputy Minister said, adding that "one of priorities that Russia plans to promote at the session is strengthening of international legal regime of asset recovery".