(RIA Novosti) - The crisis around Lebanon proves that the UN needs to become more effective, Russia's president said Tuesday.
At a July 15-17 summit near St. Petersburg Group of Eight leaders adopted a statement calling on Hizbollah to release two soldiers taken hostage and to end the shelling of Israeli territory, while also urging Israel to halt its offensive against Hizbollah targets in Lebanon. They proposed that the U.N. Security Council consider an international security and monitoring presence on the Lebanon-Israel border, reports Trend.
"The ongoing crisis around Lebanon, which has already produced serious humanitarian consequences, confirms the pressing need to make the UN's impact on international processes and on the resolution of specific international problems more effective," Vladimir Putin said.
He said collective decision-making in global politics was a key factor in international stability, adding that this was the only way of overcoming the inertia of confrontational-bloc thinking and prejudices of the past.
"Russia will pursue a policy to facilitate a more secure and democratic world order and strengthen the UN's central role," he said.
He also said that Russia was "a reliable and responsible partner both in politics and the economy."