“We cannot just passively observe events and “keep a close watch” on them, as Foreign Ministry telegrams often put it,” Putin said during a meeting with Russian ambassadors in Moscow.

“We should influence the situations which directly affect Russia’s interests, act in advance, be ready to any developments, even the most negative,” he said, adding that Russia’s diplomacy should be “dynamic, constructive, pragmatic and flexible.”

Moscow’s foreign policy has been and will remain independent, but will not slide into confrontation, Putin said.

“Russia’s foreign policy has always been and will remain self-sufficient and independent… it is consistent, successive and represents the unique role of our country in world affairs and civilization development which has formed over centuries,” he added.

“It has nothing to do with isolationism or confrontation, and provides for integration into global processes,” he said, adding that contemporary international relations could not be called stable.

“The international community is still far from creating the foundations of a universal and indivisible security system,” he noted. “In word, everyone seems to be supporting this, but in fact, a number of countries are trying to ensure only their own security, forgetting that everything is interlinked in the modern world.”

Meanwhile, he said, most immediate threats to international security – such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism, religious extremism, drug trafficking and environmental problems – have a “universal character.”

He also reiterated Russia’s opposition to attempts to impose unilateral sanctions on some countries bypassing the United Nations Security Council.

“We will continue strongly defending the United Nations Charter as a basis of the modern world order, and we will continue to push for everyone to proceed from the fact that only the United Nations Security Council has the right to make decisions in cases requiring the use of force,” he said.