MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Russia will continue pursuing the development, as part of the UN Open-Ended Working Group, of norms, principles and rules for responsible behavior of states in the information space and making them legally binding, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in an interview with TASS.

"We will continue our strategic line toward developing, as part of the OEWG, the norms, principles and rules of responsible behavior of states in the information space and make them legally binding, promote the concept of the UN Convention on the provision of IIS (international information security - TASS), consolidate Russian approaches in a future UN convention against the use of ICTs for criminal purposes," he said.

Security and sovereignty

When asked whether Russia should think about reconsidering its approaches to accelerated digitalization, the deputy minister said that the digitalization process has already been launched and is irreversible. "Digitalization of the economy is considered by many countries as one of the main drivers of their own development, ensuring security and protecting sovereignty," he said. "For our country, the digital economy is designed to accomplish, among other things, the tasks of ensuring information security based on domestic developments in the transfer, processing and storage of data, which guarantees the protection of the interests of the individual, business and the state, as well as the creation of a global competitive infrastructure."

"I will not take on technical issues that fall within the competence of other Russian government agencies," the diplomat went on to say. "I will only touch on the political aspects of this area and the contribution of the Russian Foreign Ministry to this process."

Syromolotov said that crimes in the information space are truly global in nature, cause significant damage to the economic activities of states, business structures and the well-being of millions of people and are increasingly used as a disguise to undermine the domestic social and political and social and economic situation and pose a threat their sovereignty.

The deputy minister said that at a Russian initiative, two main negotiating processes have been launched and are operating in the UN system. "In accordance with UNGA Resolution No. 74/247 of December 27, 2019, a Special Committee was established to develop a comprehensive international convention on combating the use of ICT for criminal purposes," he said. "The Russian representative was elected as its vice-chairman."

"UNGA Resolution No. 75/282 that was proposed by us and adopted by consensus designated an acceptable plan and procedure for further work of the special committee," he said.

In addition, the deputy minister drew attention to the fact that on July 27 last year, Russia was the first among the UN member states to officially submit to the special committee a draft convention on combating the use of ICT for criminal purposes, which was co-sponsored by China, Belarus, Nicaragua and Tajikistan and received support from some other countries.

The most important trek, Syromolotov said, is the OEWG on security issues in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and ICTs per se 2021-2025, which was created in accordance with UN General Assembly resolution No. 75/240 of December 31, 2020, and authorized to continue the development of rules, norms and principles of responsible behavior of states in the information space as one of its priorities.

According to the diplomat, by adopting on December 6 last year the consensus resolution of the UN General Assembly No. 76/19, proposed by Russia jointly with the United States, it was possible to consolidate the OEWG as the only negotiating mechanism on international information security under the auspices of the UN and confirm its mandate.

Important post

In addition, Syromolotov said that Russia expects Rashid Ismailov to take the post of Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union. "The most important thing for us is to promote the candidacies of Russian representatives to the governing bodies of the International Telecommunication Union: Rashid Ismailov for election as Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union and Nikolay Varlamov for re-election as a member of the new composition of the committee of the Radio Regulations Board during the elections at the Plenipotentiary Conference in 2022 (Bucharest, September 26 - October 14, 2022 - TASS)."

ITU is the dedicated agency of the United Nations in the field of ICT.