2nd LD Writethru: Putin calls for equal, non-bloc int'l security system

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for an equal, non-bloc international security system in a speech delivered at the start of the country's Victory Day parade.

"The creation of a security system equal for all countries must be our joint task, a system built on a global and regional, non-bloc foundation and to provide adequate response to modern threats," Putin said.

The Russian leader warned that the military-bloc thinking mode and attempts to create a unipolar world would undermine global stability and development, lamenting that "the basic principles of international cooperation have been increasingly ignored in the last decades."

Meanwhile, Putin expressed gratitude to the countries of the allied coalition during the World War II (WWII), as well as the sacrifice of other countries in the global war.

He noted in particular that China was the main battlefield in Asian countries' resistance against militarism in WWII, sacrificing millions of lives.

The Russian president stressed that the commemoration today is meant to build a peaceful and tranquil future based on equality and non-alignment among countries.

The Victory Day of May 9 is an annual commemorative day in Russia for the victory in the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for the WWII. The war fought from 1941 to 1945 was marked by the triumph of Soviet people over German Nazism. Endi