A top Russian official said on Friday no second U.N. Security Council resolution was needed at the moment on disarming Iraq, Interfax news agency reported. Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov, one of Russia's top spokesmen on Iraq, as saying that further action depended on reports to be presented by chief U.N. arms inspectors due to return to Baghdad this weekend.
"Further moves by the Security Council on Iraq depend on the sort of reports produced by...Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei...on the outcome of their weekend trip to Baghdad," he was quoted as saying.
Fedotov did not rule out future Security Council moves. "This must not be ruled out, but the issue is about what sort of resolution there will be," he was quoted as saying. "Decisions of the Security Council must be aimed at settling the Iraqi issue and not complicating it."
On Thursday, there was a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac. A report from the Russian presidential press service said: "Having discussed the results of the last session of the UN Security Council on Iraq, the two leaders noted that the views of Russia and France coincide on the Iraqi problem, indicating that it should be resolved by political and diplomatic means and calling for further close interaction in these efforts."
Putin and Chirac will continue to discuss the Iraqi problem and other international issues, the report added. (Albawaba.com)
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