Putin seeks to prevent ethnic conflict

Ethnic conflicts are best worked out on the local level before they escalate, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Putin addressed the first session Friday of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, RIA Novosti reported. He said that police must respond firmly to ethnic brawls. "Corruption, bias by state officials, their inability to serve justice, and defend people's rights fuel ethnic tensions, while some benefit from turning citizen's indignation over a certain case of injustice into an ethnic conflict," Putin said. There have been at least two recent cases of ethnic violence in Russia. Kondopoga, a town near the border with Finland, erupted after two local residents were killed in a fight with newcomers from Russia's Chechen Republic. In Moscow, a supporter of the Spartak soccer team died in a brawl between fans and people from the North Caucasus. Putin blamed nationalist groups from places like Chechnya trying to "provoke separatist and divisive tendencies in our country."