Medvedev says terrorism won’t put Russia on its knees

"Those who carried out this heinous crime by directing the blow against citizens of different countries hoped that the terrorist act would put Russia on the knees and make us go on offensive, and the president will not go to the forum. This is how the place and the time of the crime were chosen. But they were wrong. Russia understands its place in the world and responsibility to its citizens and the international community. This is why I am speaking from this podium today," Medvedev said.

"What happened only fortified us in our determination to find effective protection from international terrorism," he said.

"This tragedy shocked Russian society" even though Russia had experienced trials before, the president said.

"Terrorism denies the most valuable thing - the value of human life, tramples upon rights and freedoms, imposes fear and hate, impedes attempts to change and improve the world," he said.

In his opinion, "what makes the situation so dramatic is that terrorist acts change the usual course of life dramatically and make people adopt very harsh decisions, they radically change mentality of not only the victims of terror but also of all people who live on our planet"; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.

See www.itar-tass.com/eng for full version