UNITED NATIONS, September 22. /TASS/. Russia welcomes the reform of the United Nations’ anti-terror activities that was initiated by its Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday addressing the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"We welcome the reform of counter-terrorism activity of the UN system, initiated by Secretary-General and approved by the General Assembly," he said, adding that the appointment of Russia’s representative as chief of the new UN Office of Counter-Terrorism is seen as "recognition of Russia’s role in the fight against this evil."

According to the minister, the never-ending deadly terrorist attacks all over the world "illustrate the illusory nature of the attempts to create 'isolated safe havens'."

"Extremism and terrorism can only be fought jointly, without double standards or hidden agendas, and relying on the main responsibility of States, as envisaged in the UN Global Counter-terrorism Strategy," he said.