ST. PETERSBURG, November 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the United Nations over the 70 years of its activity provided convincing proof of its relevance.

"The United Nations’ universal nature and unique legitimacy has over years convincingly proved its relevance and firmly established itself as a platform for advancing the values of equitable partnership the world over and as an instrument of response to the global challenges of our time," Putin said in a message of greeting to the participants in the UN conference on struggle against corruption. His message to the forum was read out by the chief of the presidential staff Sergey Ivanov.