Russia urges UN council to unite for peace

As the hawkish leaders of the United States, Britain and Spain held their Azores summit on Iraq last night, Russia told them they would not win a United Nations sanction for war, and urged a fractious Security Council to unite in search of a peaceful solution to the arms crisis in the Gulf, Daniel McLaughlin in Moscow

The tri-partite talks convened on the remote mid-Atlantic Azores islands a day after Russians marched for peace through Moscow, and Russia joined France and Germany in calling for an emergency UN meeting that could make specific disarmament demands of Baghdad and lay down a strict deadline for fulfilling them.

The communiqué from Moscow, Paris and Berlin was "motivated by the need to preserve the unity of the Security Council and to confirm that there are no reasons for stopping inspection missions, or for a hurried use of force against Iraq," Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Yuri Fedotov said yesterday, adding that the US-led bid for international backing for war was doomed.

"This draft resolution continues to have no chance of getting through the UN Security Council," Mr Fedotov insisted, before urging the council's members to convene as soon possible after today's planned progress report on Iraq from chief UN arms inspector Dr Hans Blix.

"A great responsibility lies with all of us not to allow a split in the UN Security Council at this critical moment," Mr Fedotov said. "We expect all members of the UN Security Council to support a political resolution of the Iraq crisis, an approach shared by an overwhelming majority of the international community."

Russia has suggested it would join France in vetoing any resolution sanctioning war in Iraq, while stressing that it wants to avoid damaging its vital relationship with Washington. The US ambassador to Moscow warned last week there would be economic and diplomatic "consequences" for Russia if it blocked US policy in the Gulf.

"We are convinced that striving for a political solution to the Iraqi crisis is in the best interests of Russia, the United States and the rest of the world," Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov wrote in the Washington Post newspaper on Saturday.

"Regardless of what happens with Iraq, Russia hopes that Moscow and Washington will allow their actions to be guided by the spirit of Russian-American co-operation," he added.