Russian Summit: Russia, France and Germany called for a UN-led effort to rebuild Iraq yesterday, but insisted that war in the Gulf would remain totally unjustified unless Washington found proof of Baghdad's alleged weapons of mass destruction.Daniel McLaughlin reports from Moscow.
After talks in St Petersburg with French President Mr Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schröder, Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin said the world community had to look beyond its recent rift over Iraq and unite to help the oil-rich nation back to its feet.
"I want to stress again that the situation we are confronting in Iraq must be resolved as quickly as possible in accordance with the UN charter," Mr Putin said. "The longer we delay a resolution within the UN framework, the more it will look like a colonial situation," he said.
Mr Chirac, who led the three nations' fight to stop war in Iraq, concurred. "The task of restoring the political, economic and social system of Iraq is enormous," he said. "Only the United Nations has the legitimacy to do that." The conciliatory tone was abandoned by the Russian leader, however, when he launched a withering attack on the rationale behind Washington's military action.
"If we are talking about legitimacy, then there could only be one aim [of war\] - disarmament, the search for weapons of mass destruction. And nothing has been found. We still don't know if they are there or not.
"Even in its final moments the Iraqi regime didn't use them, so either they are not there, or they were unable to use them," Mr Putin said. "So the question arises, what problem did they plan to solve [by invading\]?" Mr Putin said notions of regime change and the imposition of democracy could only end in disaster. "Should we really go about exporting capitalist democracy?" he asked.
"If we let that happen, then we are heading for an endless string of conflicts - we can't let that occur." Mr Putin also made his first public assessment of military action that he predicted would be a "big political mistake".
"If we weigh up what is good and what is bad in the results of this war, it is positive that we have got rid of a tyrannical regime. But by what means - losses, destruction and the people's lives," he said.
Mr Schröder said rebuilding Iraq was a chance to forge international ties, rather than repeat the summit of Yalta after World War II, which created opposing blocs in Europe and heralded the Cold War.
"We don't need another Yalta," he said. "We don't need a new order, although it is essential to reform certain UN systems." His comments may have struck a chord in a White House keen to overhaul the world body.
As Europe's anti-war coalition prepared to meet, US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell poured scorn on their expected call for a "central role" for the UN in Iraq.
"I'm not quite sure what that means," Mr Powell told the Los Angeles Times. "They just say 'central' and then they go on to their next meeting." Mr Paul Wolfowitz, deputy US defence secretary, said the anti-war nations should limit their help to forgiving some of Baghdad's billion-dollar debts. Iraq owes about $1.7 billion to Paris, $2.3 billion to Berlin, and some $8 billion to Moscow.
Mr Putin said Russia was ready to discuss writing off Baghdad's debt. The French and German leaders said it was too soon to discuss such an option.