LONDON, September 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a pragmatic speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which he outlined the terrorist danger facing the world today and the roots of this threat, British political analyst and publisher of Politics First magazine Marcus Papadopoulos told TASS on Tuesday.

"Unlike Barack Obama, whose speech to the UNGA was more like an election speech, and which failed to contribute anything meaningful to the global debate concerning the threat to world peace, Mr Putin made it clear, in a level-headed way, that the main danger facing the world today – ISIS – requires coordinated efforts by all members of the UN, especially the most powerful ones, to effectively counter it," the expert said.

According to Papadopoulos, "the Russian president persuasively argued that following the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, certain countries in the world – a veiled reference to the United States and its allies – decided that because they constituted the most powerful bloc in the world, they would extend their power by discarding international law and the United Nations Charter.  Mr Putin stated that this dangerous mindset has resulted in the emergence of ISIS in Iraq, through the American-led invasion of this country, and the emergence of ISIS in Syria, through the West supporting various Islamist groups against the Syrian Government, who the Russian leader correctly referred to as the “legitimate authority” in the country. 

The expert stressed that the West has to take decisive action, including working with the Russians in order to take down Islamic State.  

Papadopoulos concludede that Putin’s speech "cited the ISIS threat to the world, its roots and how it can be successfully dealt with."  "The speech did not pander to any group and, instead, called for all members of the UN to put aside their differences and come together to defeat the malignant cancer of ISIS. The ball is now in the court of the West, and principally the US," the expert added.