Putin: Russia is concerned of human rights violations in Chechnya

At today's meeting with Louise Arbur, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia is concerned of violations of human rights in Chechnya. As the President's press service reports the agenda of the meeting included many "painful Russian issues", including the situation in Chechnya. "Russia is worried, not less that its foreign partners, with human rights violations in Chechnya, but those who put an equality sign between terrorists and Russian militaries are not right," said Russian leader in his talk with Ms Arbur.

The ITAR-TASS reports that President Putin highlights cooperation with international organizations in the sphere of human rights defence. "We recognize that first of all the responsibility for the situation with human rights should be born by the state, but we also assign high priority to cooperation in this area in the international arena and with international organizations, first of all, such as the United Nations," Mr Putin has emphasized at his meeting in the Kremlin with Louise Arbur, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In the course of the talk, Mr Putin has formulated Russia's approach to the problem of human rights as a whole. "Any underestimation of human rights, building the state at the expense of its citizens - is far from our position," he has emphasized.

The RBC Agency adds that Vladimir Putin and Louise Arbur also discussed the problem of "double standards" in respect of human rights, especially in what refers to national minorities.

The participants of the meeting were also Ella Pamfilova, chair of the Presidential Board for Promoting Development of Civil Society Institutes and Human Rights, Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman in Russia, and Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Ms Arbur is in Russia since February 19, and already visited three republics of Northern Caucasus: Ingushetia, Chechnya and North Ossetia. For today, Louise Arbur plans to have a meeting with Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin. Tomorrow, on February 24, she plans to visit St Petersburg and to meet the city governor Valentina Matvienko. During her visit, Ms Arbur will also discuss the issue of the Representative Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to be opened in Moscow by the end of February this year.