President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned of a surge in hate crimes in response to the recent terrorist attacks and urged church leaders to help diffuse tensions.
"It is clear that letting criminals push us around by stirring up anti-terrorist anger among people of different faiths and ethnicities is absolutely inadmissible," Putin told members of the presidential Council on Interaction with Religious Associations. "In their criminal intentions, extremists actively exploit ethnic and religious intolerance."
Putin's remarks came as fears mounted of a possible breakout in violence between ethnic Ossetians and Ingush in the North Caucasus. The school hostage-taking in the North Ossetian town of Beslan this month fanned the embers of the old grudge between the two ethnic groups.
In urging religious leaders to help defuse tensions, Putin made a veiled reference to the dormant Ingush-Ossetian conflict.
"Your words and actions are extremely important in the current situation, when the criminals are trying to direct anger at the people of another faith and ethnicity," he said.
"I would like to stress that a major aim of the unprecedented series of terrorist attacks ... was to drive a wedge between the Muslim world and representatives of other faiths."
The meeting was attended by Orthodox, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and Catholic leaders.