The presidents of Russia and France agreed in a telephone conversation today that a diplomatic solution should be found to the problem of Iraqi disarmament, the Kremlin said.
"Having discussed the outcome of the latest UN SecurityCouncil session on Iraq, the leaders of the two countries noted coinciding positions in favour of using political and diplomatic methods to solve the Iraq problem...," a Kremlin statement said.
It said both leaders, due to meet next week in Paris, hadagreed to pursue "close joint action with these aims".
French Foreign Minister Mr Dominique de Villepin said earlier that the time was not right to discuss a new UN resolution opening the way for war against Iraq.
"As long as the arms inspections make progress, we must pursue them," he added. He said there was a "broad majority" in the UN Security Council for inspections to be continued but he did not say how much longer he believed they should be pursued.
He repeated France's view that "force is a last resort but we do not exclude any possibility".