THE PRESENT SUMMIT MEETING IS TRULY THE LAST IN THIS MILLENNIUM. BUT IT WILL BE NOT FOR THIS REASON BUT FOR ITS IMPORTANCE THAT IT WILL BE REMEMBERED AS THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT.
   THOSE WHO WERE BEFORE US AND WE HAVE DONE A GREAT DEAL TO FILL THIS SYMBOLIC IMAGE WITH A DEEP SENSE. THE LATTER PART OF THIS CENTURY, INCLUDING ITS INTERNATIONAL COMPONENT, HAS UNDOUBTEDLY PASSED UNDER THE UN AEGIS. THE VERY FACT OF THIS ORGANIZATION'S EXISTENCE HAS BEEN A GUARANTEE AGAINST ARBITRARINESS, HEGEMONY AND DIKTAT.
   WHEN THE UN WAS ESTABLISHED, MANY OF THE COUNTRIES REPRESENTED IN THIS HALL COULD NOT BE FOUND ON THE MAP OF THE WORLD YET. NONETHELESS, THE NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL BEHAVIOR WERE FORMED TAKING THEM INTO CONSIDERATION, TOO. TODAY, THESE NORMS HAVE BECOME UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED AND THEY SERVE THE INTERESTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.
   THE MAIN RESULT IS OBVIOUS. WHAT SEEMED UNATTAINABLE ONLY HALF A CENTURY AGO HAS BECOME A NORM OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS NOW. RESPECT FOR EACH OTHER AND UN INSTRUMENTS HAVE HELPED COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES TO LEARN THE ART OF DIALOGUE AND SEARCH FOR COMMON SOLUTIONS. EVEN GLOBAL CONFRONTATION WAS UNABLE TO THWART OUR JOINT WORK AT THE TIME OF THE MOST SERIOUS CRISES, WHEN THE SITUATION SEEMED TO BE AT A DEADLOCK. IT WILL BE NO EXAGGERATION TO CALL ALL THIS "THE SCHOOL OF THE UNITED NATIONS."
   THE TERM OF POLITICAL TENURE, WHICH IS ALLOTTED TO THE LEADERS, IS USUALLY NOT VERY LONG. WE HAVE BEEN LUCKY TO BE BORN AND LIVE IN THE PERIOD, WHEN ONE CENTURY WAS ENDING AND THE OTHER WAS APPROACHING. WE ARE LUCKY THAT OUR PEOPLES HAVE ELECTED US. THAT IS WHY THE NATURAL DUTY OF A POLITICIAN IS TO FORESEE THINGS AT LEAST ONE STEP AHEAD.
   WE OUGHT TO GIVE A CHANCE TO THOSE WHO WILL COME AFTER US.
   THE 20TH CENTURY WILL BE REMEMBERED IN HISTORY AS A CENTURY OF CONTRADICTIONS. IT HAS BECOME AN ERA OF STUPENDOUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND HORRIBLE WARS, REVOLUTIONARY BREAKTHROUGHS AND DEEP DISAPPOINTMENTS. NONETHELESS, OUR PEOPLES AND COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO OVERCOME HATRED AND THE COLD WAR WITH ITS GLOBAL CONFRONTATION.
   IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT THE UN TAKES MUCH CREDIT FOR ALL THIS.
   WE HAVE INHERITED A UNIQUE ORGANIZATION FROM THE PRECEDING GENERATIONS. THE UN HAS LEARNED TO HANDLE AND SOLVES THE MOST COMPLICATED GLOBAL PROBLEMS. IT HAS BEEN THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME, WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SIGN OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. THIS UNIVERSAL INSTRUMENT HAS PROVED TO BE INVULNERABLE TO ANY IDEOLOGICAL SPECULATIONS, AND THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS HAS NEVER BEEN JUST AN EMPTY SLOGAN. TO THIS DAY IT EXERCISES DETERMINING INFLUENCE ON OUR LIVES.
   WE ARE CONVINCED THAT UN MECHANISMS SHOULD BE UPDATED AND IMPROVED. SUCH IS THE COMMAND OF THE TIME. BUT NO REFORMS SHOULD UNDERMINE ITS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES.
   THE NEW AGE OF THE UN SHOULD ENTER THE CHRONICLES OF OUR LIFE AS A PERIOD OF REAL DISARMAMENT.
   AN EFFECTIVE ARMS CONTROL MECHANISM IS ALREADY AVAILABLE. IT IS BASED ON THE 1972 ABM TREATY, THE REGIMES OF THE NONPROLIFERATION OF MASS DESTRUCTION WEAPONS AND THEIR DELIVERY VEHICLES AND DOZENS OF OTHER IMPORTANT AGREEMENTS ON THE LIMITATION AND REDUCTION OF DIFFERENT ARMAMENTS.
   THE CHANNELS OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION SHOULD BE RELIABLY BLOCKED. THIS CAN BE DONE BY EXCLUDING THE USE OF ENRICHED URANIUM AND PURE PLUTONIUM IN PEACEFUL NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
   THIS IS QUITE FEASIBLE TECHNICALLY. WHAT IS MORE, THE BURNING OF PLUTONIUM AND OTHER RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS CREATES CONDITIONS FOR THE FINAL SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE, HOLDING OUT PRINCIPALLY NEW PROSPECTS OF SAFE LIFE FOR THE WORLD.
   IN THIS CONTEXT, RUSSIA PROPOSES TO ELABORATE AND IMPLEMENT, WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE IAEA, A CORRESPONDING INTERNATIONAL PROJECT.
   PLANS TO MILITARIZE THE OUTER SPACE CREATE PARTICULAR ANXIETY. IT WILL BE FORTY YEARS IN SPRING 2001 SINCE THE FIRST MANNED SPACE FLIGHT. IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY OUR COUNTRYMAN. IN CONNECTION WITH THIS DATE, WE PROPOSE TO HOLD AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE UNDER THE UN AEGIS ON THE PREVENTION OF OUTER SPACE MILITARIZATION. IF YOU, DEAR COLLEAGUES, AGREE WITH THIS IDEA, MOSCOW COULD BE THE VENUE FOR THIS CONFERENCE.
   THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY, IN PARTICULAR ITS PAST DECADE, HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A TRANSITION AND HISTORIC PERIOD FOR MY COUNTRY. I BELIEVE YOU WILL AGREE THAT NOT EVERY NATION HAS HAD TO MAKE THE CHOICE RUSSIA HAS MADE.
   THE THREATS AND CHALLENGES, WHICH RUSSIA HAS TO MEET, ARE A COMMON ENEMY OF FREE NATIONS. THE MOST DANGEROUS AND TREACHEROUS OF THEM IS TERRORISM. IT IS UNSCRUPULOUS ABOUT ITS MEANS AND ADROITLY CHANGES ITS MASKS. BUT IT SURVIVES ONLY WHEN IT HAS A CHANCE TO UNDERMINE STABILITY AND SOW THE SEEDS OF MUTUAL MISTRUST AND ANIMOSITY. ERECTING A RELIABLE BARRIER IN THE WAY OF THIS EVIL IS OUR COMMON TASK.
   WE ARE TO WORK FOR PEACE AND PROSPERITY, FOR STABILITY AND SECURITY, RELYING ON THE ENTIRE RICHNESS OF CULTURES AND TRADITIONS. IN THE 21ST CENTURY THE RIGHT TO UNIQUENESS AND SOVEREIGNTY WILL BE WORTHILY SUPPLEMENTED BY THE ALREADY RECOGNIZED APPROACHES TO THE SOLUTION OF BASIC PROBLEMS. DEMOCRACY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MEANS, FIRST AND FOREMOST, THE UNDEVIATING OBSERVANCE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL STANDARDS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, PERCEPTION OF THE GREAT DIVERSITY OF WAYS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL CIVILIZATION, AND RECOGNITION OF AND RESPECT FOR THIS DIVERSITY.
   I AM CONVINCED THAT BY RELYING ON A FAIR WORLD STRUCTURE AND STRATEGIC STABILITY, WE WILL BE ABLE TO ENSURE A STABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION. TODAY, AS NEVER BEFORE, RUSSIA IS OPEN, RESPONSIBLE AND READY FOR COOPERATION ON THE PRINCIPLES OF EQUALITY AND PARTNERSHIP.
   I WISH OUR SUMMIT SUCCESS AND EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF ITS DECISIONS.