Medvedev calls for nuclear free zone in the Middle East.

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev said in his speech at the 64th session of the United Nations
General Assembly that the creation of a nuclear free zone in the Middle
East was the most urgent task, which, however, required an active position
and the will of all countries of the region.

"The world community has well-tested means of increasing the level of
regional and international security such as zones free from nuclear
weapons," the Russian leader said. He emphasized that the most urgent
task was to create a zone in the Middle East free from all types of
weapons of mass destruction and means of its delivery.
Medvedev said that as a member of the 'quartet' of international
brokers for the Middle East settlement Russia consistently supported
efforts aimed at reinforcing the nuclear non-proliferation regime in the
Middle East and had submitted concrete proposals to search for mutually
acceptable ways of implementing the previous agreements.


.Medvedev calls for protection of human rights.


UNITED NATIONS, September 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev believes that protection of human rights and the application of
general principles in this sphere should become the basis for
strengthening trust and stability in the world.
"All of us are united by values that stem from morale, religion,
customs and traditions," Medvedev told the 64th session of the United
Nations General Assembly.
Medvedev explained that he was talking about such major categories as
the right to life, tolerance to dissident thinking, responsibility with
regards to relatives and family, mercifulness and compassion.
"All this forms the basis of everyday life and inter-state relations,"
the Russian president emphasized.
At the same time, the world sees " growing nationalistic sentiment and
manifestations of religious intolerance and hostility," he said.
"That is why we consider it very useful to create a high-level Group
for inter-religious dialogue under the UNESCO general director. This is
particularly urgent on the threshold of 2010 which the United Nations has
announced the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures," the
Russian leader emphasized.


.Medvedev calls for counteraction to neo-Nazism.

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev told the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly that
the United Nations should counteract manifestations of neo-Nazism and
attempts to revise World War II results.
"Next year we are going to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the end
of World War II. We cannot allow its lessons to be forgotten," Medvedev
said.
In this connection Russia has proposed holding a special meeting of
the United Nations General Assembly next May to commemorate all the
victims of that war and pass a resolution.
"At the same time we watch how neo-fascist organizations raise their
heads from time to time. Hate crimes on the basis of racial, national and
ethnic intolerance are committed. Attempts are being made to whiten
Nazism, deny the Holocaust and revise decisions of the Nuremberg
Tribunal," Medvedev emphasized.
"Tough and joint counteraction to manifestations of neo-Nazism and
attempts to revise the results of Word War II fixed in the United Nations
Charter should remain a priority task of the United Nations," the Russian
leader went on to say.
Medvedev also said that the United Nations possessed unique
international legitimacy and that there was no alternative to it so far.
"The creation of the United Nations is one of the main achievements of
the world community in the 20th century. This organization and its
fruitful activities have become a symbol of the 20th century. We all need
to preserve and strengthen this common heritage of the people of the
world," the Russian leader said from the United Nations rostrum.


.Medvedev hands over CD film to Obama.


NEW YORK, September 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
made a present to the U.S. President Barack Obama after their meeting in
New York on Wednesday (early on Thursday Moscow time).
He handed over to the U.S. leader a CD film from "Formula of Power"
series based on an interview, which President Obama gave to Itar-Tass last
July.
The film's author is Mikhail Gusman, the first deputy general director
of the Itar-Tass news agency. He was the first Russian journalist to whom
Obama gave an interview. It was timed to coincide to Obama's visit to
Moscow last July to participate in the first full-scale Russian-American
summit.
In his interview the American leader spoke in favor of developing
U.S.-Russian relations on the basis of equality and mutual respect. He
emphasized that he hoped to establish trustful and constructive working
relations with Russian leaders.

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