In a comment on the convention, he spoke of it as a momentous event. "We are very glad that the Russian initiative, advanced eight years ago, has been embodied in this document by consensus", he noted.
"It is the first international covenant adopted in the United Nations system at the Russian initiative. We are very glad that all the states have given it support", Fedotov stressed.
It is a new, 13th antiterrorist convention, the interviewee said. "The importance and the unique nature of this document, in distinction from the preceding ones, consist it its being preemptive, forestalling the nightmare scenarios of terrorist acts with the use of nuclear materials. This makes it possible to prevent such acts of terrorism by pooling the efforts of all the states", Fedotov said.
In his opinion, it is very important that the convention as an international treaty "intends the inevitability of punishment for the planning and committing of terrorist acts with the use of nuclear materials on the basis of the 'extradite or put to trial' principle". Moreover, close cooperation in the process of carrying out its clauses with the International Atomic Energy Agency is intended.
The convention will be open for signing in September, when the heads of state and government gather in New York to mark the 60th birthday of the United Nations.
