Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said US Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation on Iraq indicates that UN weapons inspections in Iraq must continue.
The presentation "indicates that the activities of the international inspectors in Iraq must be continued," Mr Ivanov said.
"This information has to be immediately handed over for processing by the IAEA through on-site verification during the inspections in Iraq," he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency that has checked for any nuclear weapon programs in Iraq.
"Experts in our countries must immediately get down to analysing and drawing the appropriate conclusions," Mr Ivanov said.
"We must once again appeal to all states immediately to hand over to the international inspectors any information that can help them discharge their responsible mandate," he said.
China also said UN arms inspectors should be given more time in Iraq.
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, speaking immediately after Mr Powell, as China is one of the five permanent veto-wielding members of the council, called on the United States to hand the intelligence used in the briefing to the inspectors.
He praised the work of UN inspection teams and observers from the International Atomic Energy Agency over the past two months.
"It is their view that now they are not in a position to draw conclusions, and they have suggested continuing the inspections," said Mr Tang.
"We should respect their views of the two agencies and support the continuation of their work."
"The two agencies pointed out some problems in the inspections. We urge Iraq to adopt a more proactive approach with further explanations and clarifications as soon as possible and co-operate with the inspection process."
Tang argued that any decisions on how to deal with Iraqi noncompliance to resolutions demanding its disarmament should be made by the Security Council.
AFP