Critics have accused Putin of authoritarianism

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he remained committed to democracy, the market economy and press freedom.

But Mr Putin said journalists must also play their part in combating terrorism, and chided Western media for their reluctance to label the Beslan hostage-takers "terrorists".

Excerpts from his speech to international media executives in Moscow follow.

There will be no about-turns. Russia made its choice 10 years ago. Russia wants to be, and will become, a democratic, society-orientated state with a market economy.

But we must draw conclusions from what we recently had to encounter.

International terrorism has indeed declared war on Russia. And I have already said that the aim was not just the destabilisation, but the destruction of the Russian Federation.

This is why we must respond to these challenges and search for efficient instruments which would enable us to counter this threat.

Democracy and stability are equally important to us. I am confident that Russia can implement a plan which would enable it to develop in conditions of stability and democracy...

Press freedom

Freedom of the press is one of our democratic foundations, a guarantee of the country's independence and democratic development, of the irreversibility of these processes.

Undoubtedly, press criticism is useful for government at all levels - although, of course, it is sometimes painful and unpleasant for representatives of the authorities.

There is a common joke about this... When you open a window it gets noisy, but when you close one it gets stuffy.

We are, in practice, creating the legal scope for open and transparent government. However, we also expect responsible and trustworthy reporting from the media...

The media and terrorism

I am convinced that in a situation where there is an international terrorist threat, when people are dying, the media cannot simply be observers.

We do not have the right to forget: terrorists cynically exploit opportunities provided by the media and democracy in general to greatly increase the psychological and information impact during hostage seizures and when other terrorist attacks are being carried out.

Their aim is to destroy freedom of the press and the institutions of democracy.

It is clear that the fight against terrorism cannot be used as a pretext for suppressing the freedom and independence of the press.

However, the news community could develop a way of working that would enable the media to become an effective tool in the fight against terrorism, that would rule out any form, even unintentional, of promoting the terrorists' aims...

Defining terror

A terrorist is someone who resorts to acts of terror... All dictionaries - whether English, French or Russia - give an identical definition of this word.

So why do we use this term as we see fit in relation to the political situation of specific groups in one country or another?

How can the awful tragedy in Beslan, the shooting down of completely innocent children be called a siege, as some media outlets did - the "Beslan siege"?

Even animals don't act like that, and we call it a "siege". And we call the people who do this "rebels" [uses English word]...

If a person pursues political goals using these methods, all of us should have just one definition: a murderer and a terrorist...

Security reforms

The ultimate aim of the series of terrorist acts staged in Russia was not only to destabilise life in our country, it was a blow to its unity.

Because of this, I think it is necessary to abide by the constitution of the Russian Federation, in particular its Article 77, and to ensure the unity of executive power in Russia...

By this I mean to ensure the rights of citizens across the whole of Russia, and above all, guarantee their right to a secure life, and the efficient solution of social problems...

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.